The Diego Diaries: Chaos 46
=0=Out there
They paused at the hull breach listening. The sound of electrical systems snapping and shorting out could be heard along with the sound of peds running. Sideswipe nodded to Sunstreaker, then slipped in sliding along the hull to come to a stop at a junction. Sunstreaker rolled up behind him and they turned to watch Mayhem and Gunnar disappear the other direction. Internal telemetry told them when they were at the same spot on the other side of the ship. :We're go: Sideswipe said.
:Affirmative. Move on: Gunnar said as he stepped forward armed to the teeth, Mayhem beside him.
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker moved forward. Ahead of them they could hear and feel the sound of running peds.
-0-Gamma
The hatch slid open and two purple colored Decepticons slipped inside followed by armed mechs including Springer. The cabin re-pressurized and they looked around pausing at they saw Prime sitting at the command area of the vessel. They glanced at each other and walked when prodded pausing before Prime, Prowl, Ironhide and Ratchet who sat together around the table.
"You wished to speak to me," Prime said quietly.
They glanced at each other and nodded. "I'm Coldspray and this is my brother, Hardtime."
Prime nodded but said nothing.
They glanced at each other again, then Coldspray stepped closer. "We don't want to be a part of this. I won't say we're clean. We were with Overlord a long time but this… thing he did… throwing sparklings out is not what we agree with. That was low even for us."
Prime nodded. "Tell me about Overlord."
"We were with him when he was a subcommander to our battalion chief. He fought his way up and became a lieutenant to Megatron. We stayed with him because we got to fight and the pickings were easy." He paused a moment. "We grew up hungry. No one gave a frag about us. It was what it was."
Prime nodded. "Go on."
"We were with him when he began to change. It became less about the Cause and more about his own needs. He liked to have everyone's obedience. He wanted complete and utter obedience." Hardtime nodded. "If anyone got out of line, they were beaten to death or wished they were. He liked to have fights staged, fights to the death. It's been going downhill a long time. We aren't the only ones who don't like the way things are going."
Prime nodded. "Why did the sparklings mean anything more than anything else you've done or seen?"
Hardtime shifted uneasily. "They're babies."
Coldspray nodded.
"You've killed babies before," Ironhide said, his tone cold and harsh.
"No we didn't," Coldspray interjected. "We never hurt babies or kids."
"Not where you could see that result, right? You have but never so close to your actual line of sight," Ratchet added quietly.
They looked at him, then the deck. Coldspray turned glancing at the beds filled with recharging babies. "Is that them?"
"It is," Prowl said.
"We were there when they took them," Hardtime said. "Overlord said to bring a half a dozen to the shuttle bay and make it fast. I saw them grab babies from their genitors. It was horrendous. They screamed all the way to the bay. We got on fighters and mingled in the migration so that we could leave."
Prime considered their words and affect a moment, then rose. He towered over them and they stood uneasily. "I want you to go to our colony. I want you to sit down with Jazz and unload every single thing you can remember about everything and everyone everywhere. You hold anything back, I will personally dismantle you myself. Do you understand me?"
They nodded. "Yes, we do," Hardtime said.
Prime nodded to Springer and the two turned with him to go. As they did, they paused beside the infants. Reaching down, Coldspray gently stroked one baby's cheek. He stood up and looked at Prime. "We never saw our genitors after we were old enough to fend for ourselves. They were gone. We don't know how or why. We just know they left and didn't come back. We don't like it, Prime. Not one bit."
Prime nodded. They turned and walked to the hatch disappearing into the darkness with Springer and his mechs. The hatch closed and things pressurized. "Two down and thousands to go."
Prowl nodded. Glancing down at the sleeping babies, he shook his helm. "What a fragged up species we have become."
No one argued with him.
-0-On a ship in stealth mode
They passed mechs and a single femme hiding in alcoves and compartments along the path where they walked. As they saw each group they paused and instructed them to go to the breach and leap outside. Ships were already there waiting to pick them up. Some of the mechs held infants or the servos of small younglings. Some were elderly but all moved as told. By the time they reached the front of the vessel 25 of the 33 were evacuated.
:Autobot:
They froze and listened. :What, slagger?:
A harsh laugh could be heard over the internal comm Line. :Come and get me:
:You want to commit suicide, fragger? You came to the right ship: Sunstreaker replied.
:You and what army, slagger?:
:Why are you still here? Your slagging army left you here. What the frag is wrong with you?: Gunnar interjected.
:Fight me, slagger:
:Let the mechs up front go: Gunnar replied. :Then you and I can go at it all you want:
:Come and get them: the voice said.
Sunstreaker looked at Sideswipe and nodded, turning to go back the way he came. He reached the hull breach and paused to watch the last of the civilians be pulled into another vessel. Nodding to the mechs standing in the door he pushed off and drifted to the hull of a vessel next to the one in play. Magnetizing to the hull, he looked at the Seekers. :We need to go in through the front. We need to breach the cockpit and put the slaggers in the middle. They appear to be held up outside of it and I don't know how much longer they will wait before going inside where the rest of the civilians are hiding. Can you enter with stealth?: Sunstreaker asked.
The two boarding specialists nodded and turned pushing off the vessel followed by Sunstreaker and their heavy weapons partner. The three Seekers and Sunstreaker magnetized lightly onto the hull above the cockpit. Peering downward, they saw the frightened optics of the pilot and the remaining 7 civilians of the ship.
Sunstreaker slid down and pointed to his Autobrand. Then he pointed to the Seeker's. They looked at him, their expressions alternating between terrified and hopeful. Standing among them were tiny younglings, their faces grave and solemn. A fury lit inside Sunstreaker and he looked at the Seekers. :We have to get them out. There are younglings inside:
They nodded and turned conferring silently together. One of them signaled him to move as another boarding specialist slid down onto the cone of the vessel. The two transformed digits and cutting torches appeared. One of them began to slice the transparent steel that made up the forward viewport, the other sliding a slim sharp digit through the cut to hold it. A segment big enough to accommodate an adult was tossed aside as they leaned in and began to pull civilians out. When the last one was clear, Sunstreaker slipped inside followed by two of the Seekers. The other one began to lead the civilians away.
-0-On their way
They sat side-by-side on a ship heading toward the bridge. They hit the center, were nearly blinded by the light swirling in storm circles, then it changed again. They flashed out, the darkness surrounding them. Bright slowly turning orange signaled the presence of a giant globe, the rust colored mass of Mars. Surrounding it were lines of ships waiting to land, other ships in orbit to facilitate that and any number of communications as well as military devices that did work for the sprawling city they could see from space.
Staring out the window, they waited for clearance. It was expedited and they watched as the ship arched over to begin its descent. The city below was an astonishing sight of towers and bristling fortresses both sentient and stone. An enormous air field sprawled out before them, lines of battleships and shuttles, some of them Decepticon and others local in design glittered in the afternoon sunshine.
The landing was gentle, the walk outside short. They stood and turned slowly taking in with a sense of wonder and disbelief an actual authentic Cybertronian city. Vehicles were everywhere doing work. Literally thousands of mechs of all shape and manner were helping refugees. A massive stone fortress bristling with gun turrets stood some distance away. Nearby was the obvious outline of Fortress Maximus and Metroplex in city and fort modes.
Towers of habitation as far as the optic could see sprawled in all direction and one of them thought they could see the Temple of Simfur. He didn't believe it. That venerable facility was destroyed long ago. But something that seemed like it shimmered in the heat of the morning sun.
A pair of mechs came toward them and paused. "They're yours, Jazz. You need help?" one of their guards said.
"No," Jazz said with a mirthless grin. "I doubt they could get very far if they wanted to."
The mechs nodded and turned heading back to their ship and the fighting on the other side. The two 'Cons turned back to Jazz and a mech who they would be told later was named Mirage. "What now?"
"Come with me," Jazz said. "Let's go somewhere and talk." With that, they turned with two utterly amazed mechs in tow and walked to the Fortress and Ops Center's big conference room for a chat that would last six joors.
-0-Out there
They slid through the opening and huddled on both sides of the bulkhead door. On the other side of that slim piece of metal were the three signatures of Decepticons that were picked up on their internal sensors. Sunstreaker looked at the Seekers and they nodded, moving to take their positions.
The heavy gunner, Slipstream stood in front of the window of the cockpit, his rockets pointed straight at the door. On either side of it, Sunstreaker and the boarding specialist, Freefall waited. :Gunnar, are you and your partner in place? We have the cockpit under control. All civilians are evacuated: Freefall said.
:We are go: Gunnar replied.
Freefall nodded to Sunstreaker. He nodded back tuning in to the three desperados on the other side. :Slaggers, we want you to surrender. There are no more civilians on board and you have nothing to gain from fighting. Grow a processor. Give it up and we won't kill you:
:Frag you, Autobot. Come and get us: a harsh voice replied.
They glanced at each other with a moment of disbelief. There was nothing to gain but the 'Cons didn't back down. Sunstreaker nodded tuning into his brother and party at the other end of the divide. :You are delay two, Sideswipe. We are go now. Acknowledge:
:We are delay two: Sideswipe acknowledged.
:We are delay two: Glory, the combat specialist acknowledged.
Turning and glancing at Slipstream, Sunstreaker grinned his wicked smirk. Then he turned and blew a hole in the door the size of a targ. With a war whoop that could only be heard over the internal link between the Autobots and their Autobot Seeker partners, he jumped through the hole, his seven foot blades sliding out of their sheaths as he did.
-0-On the ground
They came in groups of a couple hundred ships. They were fed down to the ground in a constant stream never less than ten at a time. Hundreds of ships were being moved through the bridge and then it stopped. The 'Con ships in the migration were holding things up. They would have to be weeded out and the fighting filtered through the communications speakers of the Ops Center.
The humans had gone there knowing that any information anyone outside of Command would get would be there from friends. Sitting on the center table in little chairs, scientists, soldiers and movie folks watched the well organized almost supernatural precision of the mechs and femmes who worked there.
"What's up so far?" Aaron Belcher asked Lennox as he sat on a couch next to the chair Lennox lounged in.
Lennox shrugged. "Fighting. Ship-to-ship. Sounds like hand-to-hand."
The other soldiers nodded as the movie folks and scientists looked at them with tension.
"You aren't worried?" Michio Yamaha, an astronomer from Tokyo, Japan asked with surprise.
"For the 'Cons?" Epps asked with mock surprise. "Those slaggers are on their own."
Even mechs at duty stations chuckled.
=0=TBC
2012 (10)