The Diego Diaries: Chaos 14 (dd3 24)
=0=Apartment 24, Floor 24 in the 'Sea of Tranquility' (Mare Tranquilitatis)
"ORION!"
Ironhide snorted out of the wash racks and looked into the living room. A tiny wet bot with yellow arm bands ran as fast as he could for his grandatar.
Tie Down sitting nearby gripped the little bot as he stood in front of him with his arms held up. "ATAR! ORION ME! HI, ATAR!"
Tie down laughed and hugged the little bot, rising as he glanced at Ironhide. "I can bring him in, son."
"That's alright, Tie. That little marauder has to learn the house rules," Ironhide said crossing the room.
Orion looked at his atar with alarm.
Gripping Tie Down's face in his servos, he began to babble his concerns. "ATAR BAD! ME ORION! ME RUN! GO ME! I ORION GO YOU!"
"You bet you will, you little goof ball," Ironhide said taking the infant into his servos. Turning to thunder back into the berth room, he finished washing Orion's armor.
The racket was loud as Praxus stared worriedly at the door. He looked up at his grandada who was holding him and enjoying the hoo-hah in the other room.
"This is always very funny, Tie," Ravel said with a chuckle.
"I think so, Ravie," Tie Down said as he sat on the chair by the window.
Ratchet came out of the infants' rooms and glanced into the berth room. "How's it going, Ironhide?"
"FINE!"
Ratchet snorted and walked into the living room to caress Praxus's helm. "You look shiny."
"He was a good little mech," Ravel said with a smile.
"At least one isn't going to kill me," Ratchet said.
Ironhide walked out of the berth room holding a scowling little mech peeping out of a white towel cocoon. He was handed off to Tie Down.
"Are you two going to be alright?" Ratchet asked. "I know this is an odd day. The second day of 'weekend' and all, but the twins will be over shortly and Blue later. Please call them if you need them. We shouldn't be gone long."
"You're going to some other part of the galaxy and you make it sound like a stroll to a show," Tie Down said with a grin.
Ironhide grinned. "Could turn out to be just as much fun," he said as Ratchet walked to the door. He followed and they stepped out leaving the two alone with the sparklings.
Orion looked at his grandatar from his white towel swaddle and smiled ginormously. "ATAR! GOOD ME, ORION! PLAY?"
Tie looked at Ravel. "I think we have some new words, Ravie."
Ravel chuckled. "I think we do."
-0-On the road to Ops Center
Prime and Prowl stepped out of the Fortress and walked toward the airfield where Omega was waiting for them. On the way they crossed paths with Ironhide and Ratchet.
Prowl as pre-arranged with Prime paused with Ratchet to 'discuss something' with the bot as the other two continued. Prowl watched them walk on then turned to Ratchet looked at the tense winger curiously. "What?" Ratchet asked.
"Ratchet, dial down your emotional subroutines for a moment. I want to tell you something and I don't want a scene or something."
"What?" Ratchet asked as he frown slightly. "What's going on?" He tensed. "What happened to the twins?"
"Nothing," Prowl said. "It's a very good thing but I want it private for a moment. Trust me."
Ratchet looked at him then complied. "Alright. Shoot."
Prowl nodded. "I want to tell you that we're going to meet the leadership of the ghost ships in the Expansion. Face to face, that is."
Ratchet nodded. "That makes sense."
"Ratchet," Prowl said, "when Optimus sent a trial message to them, they sent back a single word. It was 'ebony'."
Ratchet looked at him for a moment while that percolated into his processor. "Ebony … that's Blackjack's designation in the code book."
Prowl nodded. "It is. He confirmed it through the next message. We're going to see him and because he's there, Alor will be, too."
Ratchet shifted from ped to ped absorbing the information without the help and hindrance of emotions. The sound was rattling around without the fury.
"Ratchet, firewall the slag out of that information so that Ironhide won't know it. Then dial back up. I don't want Ironhide to wonder what's going on with you."
"You've known how long?" Ratchet said as he began to compile a rigid medical information-style firewall for the information.
"Since the first message sent," Prowl said..
Ratchet slowly dialed up his emotions. When they were at a level that felt normal the two walked to the ship waiting nearby for them both.
-0-The Trigger Command
Miler sat at the Engineer's station working through the programming that would automate the bridge and keep it open until the keyword he alone would control shut the big violent anomaly down. Glancing at Wheeljack who sat with Perceptor at the Control station, Miler nodded. "We're ready, 'Jack."
"Thank you, Miler," Wheeljack said. He called the Flight Tower in Fortress Maximus. "Flight Control, this is Trigger Control. We are go. Please advise Omega and clear them for liftoff."
"Trigger Control, this is Fort Max Flight Center, we copy and have Omega on go."
Wheeljack looked at the big monitor nearby, the one trained on Omega. That worthy slowly arose and soon disappeared into the darkness of space. Three other giant monitors turned on and one of them showed Omega transiting the planet in orbit.
:Omega Supreme to Trigger Control:
"Trigger Control, Omega. This is Wheeljack. We're going to ask you to enter the sled," Wheeljack said referring to the long arms of the device that concentrated, focused and transmitted the energy that would allow the singularity to open and remain that way.
:I copy: Omega's voice said as the screen showed him moving to the device and entering. :Trigger Control, I'm in place:
"Good. Hold a moment, Omega," 'Jack said as he ran his digits over the keyboard. A slight tremor signaled the processor-blowing energetic forces gathering down below in the energy chamber. When they reached the right intensity, they burst forth along the long arms flowing outward in a tight beam into the space ahead of their orbit. When that was achieved, the Trigger's thrusters kicked in and it held its place in orbit. Mars continued to rotate but the Trigger stayed firmly in place.
Ahead of it, the four streams of energy crossed and a singularity was born with space erupting into a giant malevolent blossom. It was massive and made a tunnel that ripped through time and space opening widely at the destination. All that Omega had to do was fly straight in and they would be there.
So he did.
-0-At the other end
A flotilla of five ships waited in the darkness, their mirrored surfaces reflecting the star light and glowing energy around them. Blackjack and Alor stood on the command deck of their ship, their crew sitting around them on station watching the eruption of a sight they'd never hoped to ever see.
Behind them scattered over 12 planets and 1 moon, over 110,000 Cybertronians, 1,500 Autobot as well as ex-Con soldiers and 324 Seekers waited for the word to go. They'd been removing signs of their identity since the first communication from Prime.
The word had been given and they put into effect a plan that'd been in place for a few generations of bots. Gather everyone into working groups. Take everything that had to come and load it into giant freight liners. Everything else had to be defaced, destroyed or buried. Habitations were heavily mined along with work places and other buildings. Everyone packed their gear and all things that needed to be taken along were loaded on the cargo ships included the tubes bearing the dead.
Right now they were on standby. Every single individual was accounted for. They were sitting and/or standing on ships waiting for the General to say the word. Seekers flew in orbits around each world protecting, scanning and waiting.
Alor had received the reports given one by one from all of the centralized stations for each planet's population. No one and nothing would be left behind. When they were gone there would only be a mystery and a big smoking pile of rubble. He walked over to stand beside Blackjack with the terrifying enigma of the space bridge glowing on the window before them. "I'm so nervous."
"You and me both," Blackjack said grimly. "This is a moment I never thought would arrive."
Alor nodded as they watched a ship they never expected to see again muscle out of the energy vortex and jet toward them. "Omega."
Blackjack nodded. "This is the Prime, Ali."
Alor nodded as he slipped his servo into Blackjack's to squeeze it gently.
Blackjack squeezed back.
-0-On the other end
They stood in the hold looking out the porthole windows as Omega gathered speed and shot into the glowing green-blue of the singularity. Inside, they watched as unfathomable amounts of energy worked to hold open the very fabric of space. Slipping through with an almost unbelievable ease and smoothness, they found themselves on the other side almost without noticing the passage of any time. They shot out into darkness almost immediately detecting the presence of five glistening ships.
"Prime, we are not alone," Omega's deeply masculine voice said.
"I know. Scan them, Omega, and seek the response," Prime said. Standing next to him was a tense Prowl, an expectant Ironhide and a pensive Ratchet.
"They have confirmed. What are your orders?"
"Come within traversing distance, Omega," Prime said turning to look at the group. "I'm going over first."
"I'll go with you," Ironhide said.
"No," Prime said. "Wait here and I will call you over." He looked at Prowl. "You are in command, Prowl."
The winger nodded as the three watched Prime walk to the hatch door and rap on the bulkhead. It opened so Prime pushed off into the darkness of vacuum. The hatch closed and the cabin repressurized. Prowl turned to a view port to watch Prime glide through space as he made his way.
"Prime shouldn't be going by himself," Ironhide said. "We don't know who's over there and what they intend no matter what he may have been told by them."
"I wouldn't worry, Ironhide," Prowl said quietly. "Something tells me this is going to be just fine."
They watched as Prime reached the ship and magnetized to its hull. The hatch opened and the light inside flooded out. He moved forward to slip inside as the hatch slid shut.
The ship was beautiful, long, sleek and arrayed with deadly weaponry. It had polished almost mirror-like sides that were faceted like a glitter ball. The sheets were enormous and together they reflected the light making it hard to see the vessels. Even the sensors on board Omega struggled to hold them in focus. Obviously they had deflector technology to help them remain inscrutable.
Prowl considered that making a note to talk to Perceptor and Wheeljack about studying and perhaps using it themselves. It kept everyone bad out of here along with their firepower all these vorns. It couldn't hurt to see if it would be a help for themselves.
-0-Inside
He stood in a bright light, his optics having difficulty dialing to the right level of opacity. Then the light faded leaving him nearly blind as he struggled to adjust. Several dark figures stood facing him, big figures of both mech and Seeker. They came into focus and Prime recognized all of them.
The biggest most commanding entity of the group was staring silently at him, then knelt, bending his knee and his helm before the moral, political, religious and ethical center of their species. The others followed. The silence of the room was almost oppressive.
Prime looked at them and shifted with unease. "Please, friends … rise."
They did, each of them reflecting some of the disbelief, hope and fear they all felt on their faces.
"Optimus Prime," the big black bot said with an almost reverential whisper. "I didn't hope to ever see you again."
Optimus extended his servo which the big Autobot gripped. "Words can't describe the joy I feel seeing all of you again, Blackjack."
-0-On Omega
Ironhide paced as they waited. A silent tense Prowl watching him go back and forth. There was no news yet but that in and of itself was good.
"Ironhide, he'll call us shortly." Ratchet looked at his bond pacing. "Relax."
"I should be there. I'm his bodyguard and his brother. I should be there. What if something happens?"
"Nothing is going to happen, Ironhide," Prowl said.
Ironhide stopped pacing to turn a gimlet optic at the tense winger. "Really. You know that?"
Prowl shrugged slightly. "Yes."
"What are you not telling me, Prowl?" he asked with that bulldog set to his jaw. "You're hiding something." He glanced at Ratchet then Prowl again. "Both of you are. What is going on?"
Ratchet glanced at Prowl.
=0=TBC 2012 (9) 4-24-2022