The Diego Diaries: Part 16 edited

-0-In the ship watching others go into the vortex, earlier

There was a steady stream of ships flying swiftly for the vortex. They entered with a splash effect and disappeared. They would exit almost immediately extraordinary distances away gathered to the collective bosoms of thousands more, some of whom would be surprised by the discovery of friends and family among the newbies.

Alor turned and looked at Ironhide. He was standing by his atar, his arm protectively around the big bot. They were watching a screen that fed information to and from the ships. Prime was with them and they discussed the situation in soft tones. Alor glanced at Ratchet who was leaning on the wall watching everyone. "It's amazing to see you again, Ratchet. I can't find words to say how much."

Ratchet grinned. "We weren't told about you until just now. I feel what you feel," he said.

Alor walked to a bench along the hull and sat patting the space next to him. Ratchet walked over and sat leaning against the wall as wearily as Alor. "What is the colony like?"

"It is huge. It was Prime's decision. We were helping a species on the next planet over who had Megatron and the AllSpark in their custody without knowing the danger."

Alor sat up looking at Ratchet sharply. "Megatron? The AllSpark?"

"There is a long story behind everything but understand. Prime killed Megatron once. The AllSpark revived him. He came again with The Fallen and Prime killed that bot, chasing Megatron away. We haven't seen him since but we have had a few problems with his machinations. We have the system buttoned up tightly and receive refugees as they come. The 'Cons are driving them off their worlds toward us. We think … maybe … that he's going another direction for now but we are pretty convinced its only a matter of time."

Alor nodded. "We have not seen or heard of him for a very long time. We worked hard to make it punitive for anyone to come our way. That way we could gather and protect our population."

"We do the same. We have a lot of Decepticons coming in and thousands of Seekers. Starscream and his trine were the first ones to cross over," Ratchet said.

Alor looked at him. "Starscream."

Ratchet nodded. "Starscream was dying. Megatron had nearly beaten him to death. If they had not come to us he would have gone to the Matrix."

Alor nodded. "It will be an interesting world we go to then?" he asked with a grin.

Ratchet thought about the infants, the family in all its extended glory and smirked. "You have no idea."

Ironhide glanced over his father and looked at Ratchet. :Don't tell them about the sparklings, Ratchet. Let it be a surprise:

Ratchet smirked and nodded slightly. Ironhide turned back to the job at servo.

-0-Venture

He hurried down the corridor and paused at the door. Opening to peer inside, he smiled. Tie Down was covered with sparklings. He was laughing as they patted and tumbled over him pausing long enough to hug each other, then resume their game of climbing all over grandatar. Ravel who was sitting nearby rocking the femme-lets smiled. "Hello, Venture. Welcome."

Venture entered and stood smiling down at the infants. "I got here just in time," he said sitting down to join in on the fun.

-0-Ops Center

"I think it might be a good idea to help with the infants," Prowl said. "Right now, its smooth. You can help Ratchet when he gets here." Prowl paused then nodded toward a conference room. "Come with me a moment."

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe followed Prowl to the big conference room entering and closing the door behind them. They turned to Prowl who stood before them pensively. "I have a surprise for you. We didn't tell Ratchet and Ironhide until now because we weren't completely sure."

They both nodded. "What?" Sideswipe asked.

"Ironhide's genitors have been recovered," Prowl said.

It was silent a moment. Then Sunstreaker glanced at Sideswipe. "This could become slagging awesome."

Sideswipe smirked. "Fragging awesome."

Prowl merely looked relieved.

-0-Out there

"We haven't seen Megatron this way. His people began to stop coming because we made it painful. There are a lot of dangerous aliens here and we made a space for our own," Blackjack said.

"What about the refugee movement? What do you know about the Circle of Light and the Knights of Cybertron?" Prime asked.

"We have had them come and go. Dai Atlas is searching for anyone who is lost and building a huge network out here. The last time we talked he was heading for Cybertron. He had heard that you were somewhere doing something but no one had any information," Blackjack said.

Prime nodded. "He's on Cybertron and he's building a network there to overtake the planet when the moment is right. He's been there only for a short time but we have more information about Megatron and the problems on Cybertron with Soundwave because we went there ourselves."

"We are ready to serve, Prime," Blackjack said. "We want to assist in anyway we can to achieve your goals."

"You are most welcome. I think you will be pleasantly surprised about Autobot City," Prime said nodding.

"Autobot City," Blackjack said. "I like the sound of that."

Ironhide snorted. "You will love the city. We have Zeta, Kappa, Gamma, Omega and Xantium Supreme, Fortress Maximus and Metroplex as well," Prime replied.

The bots in the room just stared at Prime, then each other. Alor grinned. "I can't wait to get there."

"You will get a nice apartment, Ada. Everyone lives well there. There is no caste system allowed," Ironhide said.

Alor nodded. "That is wonderful news. It needed to die a long time ago."

Ratchet nodded. "We still have the odd slagger but they don't get much traction. We also have five of the six Councilors."

"Oh great," Alor said rolling his optics. "Neo too?"

"Neo is a changed femme, Ada," Ironhide said. "You will love Laret and Neo."

They glanced at each other, then their son. "I will have to see it, Ironhide," Alor said with a grin.

A signal beeped as crew mech turned looking at a panel. "Sir, the last grouping of ships have passed through."

Blackjack nodded and looked at Prime. "We are yours to command, Optimus Prime. All our people are through the bridge."

"Then take us in too, General," Prime said with a smile.

He nodded and turned to his pilot. "Rem, take us through the vortex."

The mech nodded and turned his digits flying. The ship gathered itself, the others moving closer around it. Then as one, the five jumped forward disappearing inside the funnel. As they did, the aperture collapsed and chased the ships all the way through to the other side dying away into the darkness when they flew out, the gigantic figure of Mars filling the monitors overhead.

-0-On the ground

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker stood on the tarmac watching the crowds moving toward the city with the gear that they could carry and their utter shock at what they were seeing. They were gathered up by lines of civilians who were eager to help them. They stood doing what everyone in the colony did, searching the crowds for anyone who they might know.

:Sunstreaker:

He paused. :What, Babe?:

:Did you hear?:

:About Ironhide? Yeah.

:We have to keep it a secret until they get home: Bluestreak cautioned.

:We know. Where are you?: Sideswipe slipped into the conversation. :What's up, Babe?:

:We're talking about Ironhide and his genitors. We can't tell anyone, Sideswipe:

:We won't. Who has the sparklings?: he asked.

:Tie and Ravel have them. Venture should be there now. Miler is supposed to come when the Trigger is shut down:

:Where's Sunspot and the little mechs?: Sideswipe asked moving to let a number of younglings pass with their genitors.

:Community schools:

:Where are you, Bluestreak?:

:City Hall. I have to help manage the ships that are coming through. They are going to be evaluated for inclusion in the fleet. I have to identify and route them into the system:

:When do you get off?: Sunstreaker asked.

:When Prime gets back I'm getting off. If you see them coming, let me know. I want to meet them and be there when they see the infants: Bluestreak said.

:We will: Sunstreaker said.

Behind them watching with intense interest, Sadee the Tagger watched the big mech who had been chosen by the Art Guild and the Magistrate's Court to be her mentor.

Sunstreaker on the other hand didn't have a clue.

-0-Out of the storm

They flashed out of the vortex and it dissipated behind them as the Trigger cut the energy to fuel it. The scene in front of them was astounding. A line of ships still orbited but the number was shrinking. They would peel off in groups of three or four, falling into the atmosphere toward the planet below.

The surrounding space was filled with activity and devices, some of them ships, others satellites and communications platforms. Some ships were coming up from the planet to be flown to Ceres, the largest asteroid in the inner planetary ring. Its 900 square mile surface had become the default ship tie down and repair station.

The Trigger glittered in front of them, a massive spacebridge of the type that had once graced the skies of Cybertron. The only thing missing was Trypticon and the three moons that had been a fixture of their growing up. Prime turned to the pilot. "Follow instructions. I have asked Flight Control to give you priority."

Rem nodded. "Yes, sir," he said as the instructions came over the flight computer. He turned the ship and began to descend. The newcomers walked to the portholes to watch as the sky cleared and the city could be seen. Towers stretched into the sky dotting the area. They were more numerous to the newcomers than any other place they had seen short of their home world.

"This is impressive," Alor said moving to stand next to Ironhide. He slipped an arm around his son and his bond. Ratchet watched nearby and grinned. It was all good. The ship continued until it came in for a landing, moving toward the group waiting to greet them.

-0-On the ground

The hatch opened and they walked out stepping down on the firm soil of a new paradigm. Prime walked to the group waiting and turned. "Blackjack, Alor, I want to introduce you to some of the senior staff. You remember Kup," he began.

Kup pulled his stogie and grinned. "General, where the frag have you and the bond been? 'Bout time you came, you slacker."

Blackjack snorted and grinned. "You would know, you slagger," he said gripping Kup's servo. In turn, they were introduced to the others. "This is an amazing sight. I am assuming that our people are being taken into servo?"

"You would be right," Jarro said with a grin. "We have done this a few times."

"It looks like it," Alor said with a grin. "You will understand our shock. We were in the mix a few moments ago and now we're here with you and our family." He looked at Ratchet and squeezed his servo.

Standing nearby watching with intense expressions, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were burning up the link between them as they waited for Bluestreak to catch up.

:Frag. He looks just like his genitors: Sunstreaker said.

:He does. But on them, it looks good: Sideswipe said with a smirk.

They both snorted and laughed. Ratchet spotting them waved for both to come over. Pausing to wait for Bluestreak, they did. Ratchet looked at Ironhide and shrugged. :Do you want to do the honors?:

Before they could, Blackjack saw the younglings. "I can't believe you two are still alive," he said looking at the twins.

Sideswipe looked at Ratchet. "You didn't tell them did you."

"Not yet," Ratchet said with a smile. "I will let your atar have the honors."

Ironhide glanced at his genitors. "I want to tell you something," he said.

They turned and looked at him. He looked at the twins, then Ratchet. "I want you to meet Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. They are ours."

"Yours?" Alor asked curiously. "What do you mean, son?"

"We adopted them. They are ours," Ironhide said glancing at Ratchet. :Jump in any time, Ratchet:

Ratchet grinned. :You're doing a great job, Ironhide:

He smirked and looked at his genitors. "You're grandatars." He glanced at Bluestreak. "This is Bluestreak, Prowl's youngling. He survived when downtown Praxus was destroyed. He's bonded with the twins."

Bluestreak smiled. "I am so glad to meet you."

Alor smiled and turned to hug Bluestreak. He looked at the twins. "This is going to be fun," he said.

"You don't know the half of it, Ada," Ironhide said with a grin. "I think it might be instructive for you to come to our apartment for a moment."

Blackjack and Alor looked at him. "Instructive?" they asked nearly together.

=0=TBC

2012 (9)