The Diego Diaries: Chaos 42 (dd3 52)
=0=On the other side of time
They came through the aperture, an imposing force with fighters flying alongside big warships like limpet fish on the body of a shark. The Guardians broke to one side and flew toward the mass of civilian ships that were bunched together. When they did, a blast occurred as a Decepticon battle cruiser shot their way out of the wall of civilians who had been their shield. They fired on Kappa, Gamma and Zeta as they did.
-Ratchet
He stood by the window staring into the darkness. The bright energy of the space bridge immediately surrounded them filling the view port with incandescent light. It rippled and dazzled, then the blackness of space returned. He felt Kappa turn hard left and as he did the sweep of lights as far as the optic could see smeared for a second …
-Red Wing
He shot through the aperture leading half the Seeker flight, splitting them with Cloud Burst who took the other half. The lights of the civilian ships were straight ahead and he veered toward them intending to flash past and run down the side making his half of the encirclement …
-Cloud Burst
He was with Red Wing and then they parted, the pulsing energy of the space bridge replacing itself with the massive tension of the hundreds of mechanisms that parted to go with him. He heard the younger ones, the newest fighters calling out. /... steady, younglings .../ he told them. /... steady .../ …
-Zeta
He held his precious cargo, his beloved Autobots and the civilians who were also aboard to do the work of The One among the suffering. Starscream and Thundercracker sat in his hold directing their part of the rescue plan. The notion at one time would have been unthinkable, the idea of Decepticons and Autobots acting for the common good something he never thought he would see. But it was so and he turned toward the migration as he hurled out with his siblings just as an energy burst stitched his side...
-0-Gypsy
She stood by the window on Xantium, her little medical kit with her name in copper glyphs by her peds. Her children and bond had given it to her when she was named head of femme and infant medicine for the planet. She treasured it. Their images were pasted inside the cover so that each time she opened it she saw their beautiful smiles. She thought of them as Xantium turned left, then rolled. The artificial gravity features of the big mechanism prevented her from being an oil stain on the far wall.
Xantium dived below his siblings as the four big mechanisms began evasive maneuvers...
-Ratchet
"Hang on," he said with a calm voice. The medics with him were veterans of the migration reclamations but not of war. Other than Gullwing on the Zeta, no one on the medical team was a veteran of combat. "Hang on," he repeated as Kappa began to roll and dive at the same time …
-Prime
He felt the great mechanism roll and swerve upward to dodge the blinding light of incoming fire. The massive ship flew upward and rolled again. They watched the breakup of the battle group into evasive maneuvers even as they saw several ships from the migration burn furiously for a flash of seconds and then wink out, parts floating away in the aftermath.
They had been shields for the Decepticons and they had paid a price. At least 12 ships had been destroyed when the Decepticon vessels burst from their trap and waded in against them. Seekers flew in complex patterns swooping in with deadly fire and swooping out before they could have firing mechanisms lock upon their heat signatures.
They rolled again and as they di Prime looked at Prowl. "At the first moment you can, go to another ship. We cannot be caught out on the same vessel."
Prowl nodded, his emotions buried under the fury of his computers locking on every living moving thing beyond the windows and plotting countermeasures for every possible outcome they could expect...
-0-Ratchet
He hung on as Kappa rolled again noting fire incoming. Some of it was close to where he stood so he turned slightly to look at the others. They clung to the hull looking at him with frightened but determined expressions. "It will be alright. This is Kappa Supreme. She is a genius."
They looked at him then nodded, glancing at each other as they did. If Ratchet said so, then it must be so …
-0-Red Wing
He arced over the mass of rubble that had been ships and fired on the tail of 'Con vessels raging against the Guardians. The comm traffic was tamped down, the unit commanders holding sway over their members. Most of the flight were grizzled veterans but some of them weren't. They were paired with those who knew what they were doing and the call was for them to fall back and guard a perimeter. No one wanted them killed from inexperience.
They fell back and around the migration for literally as far as the optic could see youngling Seekers hovered, their guns trained forward to the fighting that was brutally continuing around the space bridge.
-0-Starscream
He sat with Thundercracker directing the Seekers through a number of formal patterns of attack and retreat that wore out an opponent and offered a quick 'bleed to death' hope of victory. The younglings were giving the rest of the migration the sense of protection by withdrawing to the perimeter and facing inward against anyone running away. That was the best they could do at the moment. This was for veterans and he itched to join them. "Thundercracker, if you wish to join battle you may do so."
Thundercracker looked at Starscream and nodded. "I have to go."
Starscream nodded and they paused a moment...
-0-Cloud Burst
He turned in a spiral pattern laying a line of bullet holes down the hull of a three mech fighter. Flying in a tight circle, he came back around and shot them again. They trailed bits and pieces for a moment before exploding, the brief burst of light dying off in vacuum.
/... one fragger down, zillions to go.../ He flew with brutal haste toward the next target, his two wing men on his tail...
-Ratchet
"Kappa, are you hurt?" he asked.
"I am injured," her beautiful voice replied. "In my undercarriage. I can feel an energon loss."
"I'm on it," Ratchet said. He grabbed a medic kit geared for Guardian mechanisms and ran to the center of the hold to grip a hatch handle on the floor. Turning it, it opened as he pulled it back. Down the steel ladder he slid then paused to look and in the flickering lights overhead he saw the damage. Someone had shot her full of holes. The darkness of the world outside with the occasional burst of light could be seen through them.
He gripped his kit, magnetized to the floor and hurried to where she was wounded. It would take long tense moments to patch her and ensure that she was sound once more. A rerouting of energon from the emergency tanks nearby would energize the big mechanism for the duration...
-Ironhide
He listened to the Seeker traffic understanding some of it and not others. They were using the two languages they used in combat. One was Cybertronian Standard and the other was their own ancient tongue that he had found out was the clan language of Breezy. That pacifist youngling's clan was deeply respected and because of its isolation from mainstream Cybertronian life, his language was the perfect lingua franca for their clandestine chat. No one outside of Seekerdom knew it, especially Megatron.
:COME AROUND! NOW!:
:I HAVE HIM!:
:HE'S ON ME! COME AROUND!:
:I SEE IT! HANG ON!:
It made his tanks churn. It had been a while since they had actually had combat risky enough to endanger anyone on their side. Now they were in the thick of it and he was stuck on the ship as it spiraled about evading the mass of small ships that had billowed out of their cowardly hiding place to attack them.
They sat and listened, fingered their weapons and waited for their turn. For Ironhide vowed they would have their turn …
-Kup
He sat on a bench against the wall in Xantium, the great Guardian vessel their own favored transport. He bore the Wrecker tat on his giant fuselage and a slightly bored expression on his face. Xantium, he knew was tough, smart and battle tested. He was slagging perfect. The others sat around listening to the radio traffic, watching the flashes outside and leaning with Xantium as he turned, twisted, went up and went down.
"The rate this is going, there won't be anything left for us," Sandstorm said quietly. He glanced at his 'Little Missy'. "Are you alright, Gypsy?" he asked.
Everyone turned to look at the pretty little femme standing utterly still by the window. She turned and looked at him solemnly. "I'm okay, Sandstorm. How are you?"
He grinned at her, 'his' little partner, his femme, their chosen medic. "I'm good. This is not going to be as bad as the last time." He looked at the twins. "Sunstreaker and Sideswipe won't need us to save their afts."
The others grinned as the twins shook their helms. "Where the frag were you when we were fighting the 'Cons single-handedly?" Sideswipe said nudging Sandstorm's ped with his own.
"I was hanging with my medic here," Sandstorm said nodding to the little femme who had turned to them and was listening with a slight smile on her face. "When everyone else left, Gypsy stayed. She wouldn't go. Little Missy can wreck with the best of them. Check out her tat."
They looked at her as she turned her arm. It was there below the Autobrand and the poem about her children. "I got to have one. Thank you, Kup. It makes me feel better."
"You being here, Little Missy, makes the rest of us feel better." He looked at all of them then he stuck his stogie in his mouth. Fixing a 'listen up, plebes' expression on his face, he said in his best drill instructor voice. "This little femme has two younglings. She gets home in one piece. No one leaves her and she doesn't leave without one of us."
"That's my job, Kup," Sandstorm said with a grin. "Little femme is mine, right, Gypsy?"
She nodded. "Right," she said with a smile...
-In the migration
The refugee migration was backing up, ships making way for others to retreat. They were massed together, the Decepticons tightening their grip so that casualties would be enormous if the shooting started. The 'Cons had come to the head of the migration and off loaded more hostages into the mass of ships beyond the refugee group. Positioning their fighters and small battle shuttles behind the now empty civilian ships, they waited. Either way things went they had bartering chips. It was a win-win for them they reasoned in their cold-blooded logic.
When the Autobots came through the aperture they were ready. They shot a hole through their facade and flew forward determined to inflict enough damage at the start to ensure a better bargaining position later.
The 2200 added hostages … mechs, a few femmes, infants, younglings, sub adults, elderly … they would help, too …
-Ratchet
He clambered back up and took stock. His team was grim faced and the frenzy of battle continued. He walked to the window and gripped the wall hanger planting himself as only a medical vehicle could. Glancing at a very young medic on his first front line duty, Ratchet nodded. "Are you alright, youngling?"
He glanced at Ratchet and nodded. "I am."
Ratchet grinned. "You'll get better at this. The first time in battle is scary. Allow yourself your feelings and emotion. It makes the next time easier."
He looked at Ratchet. "How many battles have you seen, Ratchet?"
Ratchet considered that. It was actually possible for him to calculate from his databases the exact number. "Well, I could do the math but suffice it to say there are suns that were born, lived and died that can't match my longevity in battle."
"Were you ever scared?" The youngling's face was gray but determined.
"I often am. Usually for others now. I'm less afraid for me," Ratchet replied. "Sometimes I'm not at all. Just really, really mad. What makes it easier for me is focusing on the soldiers. They need me and I have to save them. I can fight and I'm slagging good at it. When I say something," he said raising his voice as he looked around the great room, "you jump. Do you hear me?"
They all nodded.
Ratchet looked at the youngling. "I'm the only one here who is rated for firearms and battle. None of you will be involved in any fighting unless I'm down or you have to. I will keep the slaggers out. We need you to be able to help the wounded." He paused as Kappa shuddered and rolled again. "Don't be worried, youngling. You're with me. I will keep you alive to do the job."
He nodded. "Will it ever get easier?"
"Maybe," Ratchet said with a grin. "If you don't want this you can tell me next time. It's not a mark against your courage or manhood to tell me that. I would rather hear it than scrape your body into a sack because you just aren't cut out for combat."
He nodded and vented a sigh. "I will remember that," he said as a row of fire sliced the side of their Guardian.
Ratchet looked up at the leaking seam and sighed himself. "Oh frag," he said as he turned to get his kit once more. "I'm on it, Kappa," he said as he opened the box to find the things he needed.
"Thank you, Ratchet," a deeply feminine voice said over the sound of her hull torsion.
Ratchet worked with the youngling, talking to him as they plastered the holes in the giant's hull once more.
=0=TBC 2012 (10) edited 12-23-18