The Diego Diaries: Chaos 44
=0=Out there
Then all hell broke out.
Starscream slammed his servo against the hatch release and was transforming outside before anyone else could move from their seat or station. He flew as fast as he could streaking past Gamma on his way to open space. As he did, several dozen Seekers were already there, all of them moving to converge on a tiny group of helpless infants who floated alone, their little arms and legs moving in the emptiness of space. There was no up or down, just the vacuum and they struggled to find something to touch.
They had been torn from their adas and atars, taken screaming through a ship to a hatch where they were handed off to a fighter pilot. He had flown out to where he was ordered and with a sinking spark even for a battle hardened wretch tossed the babies into the darkness of space. He paused a moment, then turned and flew backward watching on his sensors for someone, anyone to come get them. It was the lowest thing he had ever done in a lifetime of terrible horrible things.
Even he knew it.
-0-Prowl
He stood riveted to the deck, his optics fixed on the screen above him. Six little wriggling infants were floating in the cold and dark, tossed away like garbage. Nothing he had seen in a very long time had been so disturbing. The sweet faces of Kaon, Miracle and the femmes came into his mind as he watched the Seekers streaking toward them. His spark felt like it had guttered when the data came back proclaiming who the little bundles were.
:Optimus: he said quietly.
:They are rescuing them, Prowl. I will send them to Gypsy: Optimus replied, his own spark fluttering with an agonized surprise at the sight. :It will be alright:
:Their genitors have to be insane with fear right now: Prowl replied as he tried to pull himself together.
:We will get them all back: Prime leaned forward as he watched the Seekers converge on the tiny figures. They slowed, some of them grabbing an infant each as others formed a wall with massive firepower directed toward the Decepticons. When they were tucked into the cockpits of their rescuers, the entire bunch turned and flashed back to Autobot lines.
:Starscream: Prime called.
:We have them, Optimus: Starscream replied.
:Take them to Xantium. Gypsy is aboard: Prime said.
:Affirmative: The group turned slightly heading to the big Guardian with the infant expert. They flew toward it slowing as they arrived. The hatch opened and the bearers of sparklings transformed, floating with a sparkling in their arms.
Gypsy leaned out and took a baby, turning to hand it off to Sideswipe. Another went to Sunstreaker and the rest to four other mechs. Starscream stepped inside and the hatch closed, the atmosphere pressurizing once more. When the atmosphere was present, the infants cries could be heard. They were crying hysterically as they clung to the mechs who held them. Gypsy took a device to scan them and looked at the mechs who held them. "They are terrified, in pretty good condition but hungry."
Sideswipe looked at the little mech he held, then turned and walked to the bench nearby. Sitting, he drew a feeding tube out and cuddled the baby for a moment. It looked at him with a terrified expression and broke into cries of despair and fright again. He sat rocking the infant as Sunstreaker and the others walked up and down trying to comfort the infants.
Kup stood by the window watching, Springer, Drift and Sandstorm beside him. "This is fragged. What sort of fragger throws babies into vacuum? What sort of fragger takes babies away from their genitors?"
"We know," Drift said with a hard expression. "This is Overlord. He is the worst of the worst. You have to look at Sixshot or the Reapers to find someone worse."
"He's a dead fragger. It may take time but he's gone," Sunstreaker said pausing. The little infant on his shoulder had calmed a little but he looked around with panicked optics. He looked at Sunstreaker and tweeted. Sunstreaker cuddled him, patting his little aft. "You will be alright. We'll find your genitors, baby," he said quietly.
"He's mine, that fragger," Kup said quietly. "Mine."
"No. You are mistaken," Starscream said with an ominous tone. "He is mine."
-0-Gamma
"Prime, they are retrieved and being cared for," Gamma said.
Optimus relaxed a moment and nodded. "Thank you, Gamma. Can you give us a conference call? Senior officers and the Alpha teams, please."
There was a pause. "You are live, Prime."
Optimus nodded. "Thank you. Starscream?" he said.
"Here, Prime. The infants are little worse for the wear. They are however greatly traumatized from the whole experience. We need to retrieve their genitors as soon as possible."
"I agree. Do you have access to a monitor?" Prime asked. A rap on the door and the hatch slid open to allow a grim Prowl back inside. He walked to the table and sat across from Prime stowing the rolled up datapad in a tube next to him. Prime nodded. "Starscream says they are safe and being cared for."
He nodded, relieved. "That's good. He's mine."
"You will have to stand in line, Prowl," Optimus replied quietly. The requisite individuals checked in and the focus became retrieval. The first line of rescue would be the ships before them. Twenty-nine ships and small vessels relating to the Decepticons were still in the migration. They would have to be driven off or destroyed. No matter how this went, it would be a bitch.
-0-Ratchet
He moved to the windows and stared at Xantium. The sight of infants flapping around in a vacuum, unable to even hear their own screams tore at his spark. The idea that anyone of them possibly being Orion, Praxus, or any of the others that he knew and loved made his energon run cold. It beat his aft. The wounded Seekers in the ship filled the berths, all of them on energon lines as they were stabilized from wounds they had received from firearms or shrapnel. Two of them were in bad condition while the rest ranged from serious to critical, non-life threatening. The two would be transferred back through the vortex to the hospital on Mars when they were stable enough to do so.
He stared at the ships in the migration, all of them halted, all of them filled with fearful civilians young and old. It was infuriating. This was the worst anything had become in all their rescue efforts. There were nearly 2,500 mechs and femmes, old, young and inbetween in the custody of the enemy. How they would get them back, he had no idea. It would be damned hard. The little babies would not have their families for a while and perhaps never. It burned in his tanks. He stood and watched at the window as the team monitored the patients. For a moment, it was enough and then it wasn't. Turning, glancing at the youngling doctor standing nearby, he nodded. "I'm going to find the babies. Can you manage here?"
They nodded. "We can, Ratchet. Go."
"Call me if you need me," Ratchet said walking to the door. He took a jet pack from the rack and strapped it on. Tapping the latch, he stepped out and jetted off heading for Xantium four ships away. It would take a while. He would get there.
-0-Gamma
"Then the best option we have is testing the 'Cons in the migration by having the civilian ships come forward in groups," Ironhide said in summation. "If they act up, we take them out. If we do it fast and hard enough, the others might pull back. Their battle group is out of easy range now. They're being left behind."
"Why, bothers me, Ironhide," Prime said.
"We have to assume that a lot of the soldiers in this group are unstable personalities who enjoy long odds," Kup said over the comm system. "We get that a lot."
"Could be," Ironhide nodded. "Kamikaze fraggers."
Prime nodded. "I want to have runabouts launched with Wrecker units aboard. I want air support with them and I want them to begin to organize the transfer through the bridge groups of ships. We don't have to monitor the size and configuration with the Trigger. That bridge can take Tryticon through," Prime said.
"What if the slaggers object?" Kup's voice said.
"Then they get removed. Pull back if they try to make a ship part of the moment," Prime replied. "We have to do this inch by inch. There are going to be no shortcuts."
They all agreed.
-0-At Xantium
He magnetized to the hull and rapped on the hatch with his fist. The door slid back and he entered. After the cabin repressurized, he heard it, the wan keening of an exhausted infant. Glancing around at all six babies, he saw that three were sleeping fretfully, two were fighting it and one sat dazed and silent in Sunstreaker's arms. He scanned them and glanced at Gypsy. "I can't remember a time when I was so fragged off."
"You and me both, Ratchet," she said.
He walked to the infant in Sunstreaker's arms and caressed it gently. It looked up at him with dazed optics, then his expression crumpled. He began to cry. Sunstreaker cuddled him gently. "This is fragged, Ada," he said with his game voice.
Ratchet nodded. "I know." He stayed with them until they had to go into the mix, helping them transfer the infants to the Gamma where they would be looked after by the crew supervised by Prowl.
-0-In the mix
The roundabouts were downloaded from flight storage on the Guardians. There were two per ship and eight were fielded. Each carried a pilot, Wrecker crew and support by five Seekers. They consisted of two boarding specialists, two heavy guns and a close combat expert. The configuration of the Seekers ensured that if necessary, a ship could be shot up and shredded by servo in jig time. Add the Autobot frontline heavies, the Wreckers and very little could walk away from encounters.
They gathered in front of the Guardians, Seekers joining with the shipfuls of shock troops, all of them waiting for the word. Kup would have overall command, Springer would lead boardings, all would work in tandem as they had practiced back on Ceres with ships heading for the smelters. They had become exceedingly good at working together both on the ground and in vacuum. The Arks moved off and found position at four corners of the migration which was now sealed off by a long glittering line of Seekers armed to the teeth. When the Decepticons moved off, the Seekers had filled the vacuum. Before escape was rendered impossible, eleven 'Con vessels had slipped out and slipped away. That would leave eighteen ships to deal with.
Kup considered that as he stood on the flight deck of the little ship. "Eighteen of the fraggers were too stupid to leave." He glanced back at Topspin. "Big mistake."
That worthy merely nodded in agreement.
-0-In the migration
They had watched with great loathing the fighting that had erupted right after the space bridge appeared. Their moment of greatest happiness had been eclipsed by the swift arrival of fighters from the Decepticon Armada. They had overrun twelve ships in the lead and carted off the passengers. Lining them up, dampening the reception and transmission of the others, they had lain in waiting. Bursting through the empty ships, the fighting had been impromtu, brutal and astonishingly enough, over. Now they sat filled with dread waiting.
For something. Anything.
Then it came, the deep calm voice of their Prime. "This is Optimus Prime. I am here to take you through the space bridge to a new safe life at a colony that we have secured in a safe system. We will be taking you through in groups. When the indication light for navigation blinks on your console, move forward to the Seekers who will fly you in. Do not be afraid. We are aware that there are Decepticon ships among you. Do not panic. Keep calm. If there is information we need to know, we have three channels open. Call and tell us what you can. We have groups ready to move through the migration to keep you safe from harm. Please have patience," Prime said as the console of the three ships designated to take information lit up.
-0-On a runabout
They all moved forward, eight runabouts and forty Seekers prepared to kick aft and take names. Waiting for them, eighteen ships filled with hardcore sociopaths waited for them to come so they could do the same.
=0=TBC
2012 (10)