The Diego Diaries: Chaos 47
=0=Out there
*FLASH*
A frozen tableau appeared. Sideswipe grappling with a mech, Sunstreaker punching another as Glory wrestled with someone else.
Darkness
Struggle was intense everywhere but only peripherally acknowledged as each was consumed by their opponent. Flashes of violet light here and there cast a weird pall as the titanic struggle continued.
*FLASH*
Another burst of weapon fire lit up the room. Sideswipe cursed and fell back, his sword flying up to cover himself. As it did, the blade found its mark and a bright spray of energon shown for the briefest of moments.
Darkness
Sideswipe ducked as the press of big bodies slammed into the wall beside him, the smoking scorch mark of his wound adding the stench of ozone to the already complex chemistry of their tight battlefield.
*FLASH*
The wounded 'Con was slamming himself against the wall in a frenzy gripping his throat tightly. Energon poured out over his servos and ran down his arm. Sideswipe leaped across the room missing a fist and grabbed the mech shoving him to the ground.
Darkness
Curses and bellows filled the comm. Lines between mechs on both sides blazed, the cursing flailing shouting traveling outward to the ships of the Autobot armada and the speakers of Ops Center. Grim faced mechs on ships, grim faced mechs and men in the Center listened to the sound of titans struggling to best their own determined killers.
Aaron Belcher glanced at Niall Graham who sat in a chair next to him on the command table of Ops Center. "This is hardcore."
Niall glanced at him with a grin. "I can take it that you aren't nor ever were a soldier."
"You got that right. I admire these fuckers but you couldn't get me to go into this sort of shit with them. I would get stepped on right away."
"They're careful," Niall said. "At least the Autobots are."
Epps and Lennox grinned.
-0-Prime
He sat listening to the mayhem over the speakers. Everyone knew that this was Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. The cursing rage, the low guttural voices that never seemed to sound that deep except in battle, all of it was understood by all present as it raged onward. He glanced at Prowl. "What are the others doing?"
"Holding. Everyone seems to be listening to this fight," Prowl said glancing at the layout of battle that was forming.
Prime nodded. They sat together and then the sound ended. It was silent a moment as they listened for the all clear, the codes about casualties and the stand down. They all listened tensely.
On both sides.
-0-Out there
Darkness
They stood over their opponents, the three lying silently on the floor. It was silent, then a headlight flashed on throwing everything and everyone in high relief. The codes were observed.
:We're clear, Command. We are two of three. Standing down and waiting for clearance: Sunstreaker said. He moved to Sideswipe checking the wound on his shoulder. :That was lucky, Sideswipe. It glanced off enough to do little but mar your finish:
:Team Four, come in: Prowl's calm voice said over their lines.
:Team Four, here: Gunnar said as he leaned against a wall to rest.
:Who is injured and should he come in?:
:Sideswipe. He caught a stray plasma beam: Gunnar said. Sunstreaker looked at him and shrugged. :How bad is it, Sideswipe?:
:More a scorch mark. Fraggers marred my finish: he said with a sneering frown.
:Do you need Ratchet or will a field patch be enough?: Prowl asked.
He glanced at Sunstreaker who was already getting the medical epoxy ready. :I'm getting a patch. These slaggers might need a doc. I think there's something else wrong with them:
:How so?" Prowl asked.
"I don't know. I think Ada should look at them: Sideswipe said watching as Sunstreaker smeared the epoxy across the length of his scorch mark.
:Bring them in: Prowl said.
:Affirmative: Gunnar said. :We need to drag them to our vessel. You fly them back and rejoin us. Sideswipe, have your ada look at that too:
Sideswipe nodded as they all turned to pull the three Decepticons toward the door and their ship hovering nearby. In seconds, they were finished and on their way back to Gamma.
-0-At Gamma a few moments later
The hatch slid open and Sideswipe floated over. He was pulled inside by Ratchet who scanned him. "You appear to be sound."
"Thanks," he said grinning. "Where do you want the dummies?"
Ratchet walked to the hatch and peered through the force field that kept out the vacuum. Three mechs hung in space held by Sunstreaker and Gunnar. :Put those two on the hull and magnetize them. I'll take that one:
Sunstreaker tugged his mech inside and once through the force field acquired gravity. He laid the mech on the deck and stepped back as Ratchet knelt to look. The others stepped closer to watch. Scanning the mech, checking him over, he glanced up at Prime. "You aren't going to like this."
"Try me," Prime replied.
"These mechs are infected with dark energon."
It was silent a moment. "That's a myth," Prowl said. "Unicron's blood … that is supposed to be a myth."
"Maybe so but here it is. This is negative energon," Ratchet said. "I don't know where they got it but it explains their behavior. It explains their grandiosity and lack of concern about anything and anyone. This would make mechs throw babies into vacuum without remorse."
"The other two … they weren't infected then," Prowl asked.
"I would say no. I would also say that if this is why the other seventeen ships are here to pick a fight, reason isn't going to be a tactic you can count upon."
Prime nodded. "We have to change tactics then," he said grimly. "We are going to have to eliminate them altogether rather than piecemeal if they don't surrender." He turned to Prowl and they conferred.
-0-Autobot City, Mars
They sat in the conference room alone and waited, the interrogation over and their part taken care of. They had spilled everything they could think of. They had held nothing back. They weren't a large part of Overlord's armada, but the number of disgruntled mechs with slowly emerging consciences was growing.
"What now?" Hardtime asked.
"I don't know. What do you think of this place?"
"It's awesome. I expected a military base or something rough. This is a slagging city. Did you see Metroplex and Fort Max?"
Coldspray nodded. "I'm glad we don't owe him slag." He looked at his brother. "What do you think they would say if we asked to stay here?"
"I don't know. I never guessed we would get a chance to get away let alone stay in a place like this. We're hip deep in Autobots. They won't trust us."
Coldspray nodded. "I wish they would."
Hardtime nodded as he leaned back in his chair. "I thought I would lose it with those sparklings. That was the worst thing I've seen in a long time. He just threw them away."
Coldspray nodded. "I know." It was silent a moment. "This is some kind of place. I saw two Decepticons I knew. They had Autobrands on their arms. Did you see the Seekers?"
Hardtime nodded. "I did. They're coming here in droves. Megatron is as stupid as Overlord. The Cause is going to go under."
"We got out in time," Coldspray said nodding. "I wonder what you have to do to stay here?"
"Could you be a civilian and follow rules?" Hardtime asked looking at his brother with a slight grin.
"Would you?" Coldspray asked glancing back.
It was silent a moment. "I would try," Hardtime said venting a soft sigh. Coldspray nodded.
Nearby watching through the tinted transparent steel, Flint, Alor and Jazz watched, listening to the brothers talking. They would also confer.
-0-Out there
They waited where they had been assigned from the beginning of the situation after making sensor flyovers of the migration. Four Arks sat in the four corners of the wide field, their guns trained on their sector of fire to hold out as well as hold in the enemy. Inside the migration, eight small ships began to form up in different areas, all of them moving closer in proximity to the sixteen ships still in play. Overhead, massing in groups were Seekers with heavy arms.
On Gamma, Prime sat waiting. Blaster who had come through the vortex to the command ship sat linking up the lines to all of the remaining 'Con vessels. When it was accomplished, he turned and nodded. "You are go, Prime."
Optimus looked at him and nodded. "Decepticon ships. This is Optimus Prime. I am going to give you some information and I expect that you will listen closely. We are aware that you are using dark energon. We are aware that it impairs your judgment. Therefore, we are going to ask you to do one of two things. You can leave now or you can surrender. If you surrender, you will be treated humanely and given the chance to live in our colony as a citizen. If you refuse and stay, we will destroy you without mercy. I am giving you a few moments to respond. Choose wisely. Your life depends upon your decision."
Then he sat back to wait.
-0-Ops Center Conference Room
They walked in and the two mechs sat up straighter. Sitting, they stared at them, the two staring back uneasily. Alor looked at Coldspray. "We ran your designations and didn't find anything beyond your enrollment in the Decepticons. We even passed your names past Fortress Maximus."
Hardtime blanched. "We weren't part of that. We aren't saying we're good sparks all the time. But we didn't torture or any of that slag. We were fighters and we did slag but not that. It isn't honorable."
Alor sat back regarding the pair. He had heard this sort of thing from bad actors before and it usually meant some rudimentary set of rules were in place. It usually but not always was a good sign. "We know that Overlord is a hell beast. We know he deserves a smelting pit. What we have to understand is if you are trustworthy over the long haul? Will you stay on the side we need you or will someone arriving down the line drag you into slag?"
"No," Coldspray said firmly. His brother nodded. "We're tired. We want to stay here. We like it here."
"There are laws. We're under modified martial law. Prime is the first and last word. We have rules and laws, obligations and limitations. What can you say that makes us believe you won't get over-energized and kill someone? Or you'll settle a score if someone lives here that you have a beef with? What makes you a good risk?"
They glanced at each other, then the three who sat looking at them without an ounce of pity. "You have our word."
Hardtime nodded. "You have it."
For a moment, they had no comment. Then they turned together and began to confer. Alor looked at them with a deliberate expression on his face. "I have had a short conference with Prime and he has given me discretion on both of you."
They sat straighter. Glancing at each other, they braced themselves.
"I am sending you to medical where a device will be placed in your chassis that will detonate if you try and remove it. The codes will be known only to the master computer. This device will track you and if you act up, blow you to the Pit. You will be given a place to live, a job to do and a chance. You will be released from this device when you earn trust. Two former Decepticons have volunteered to mentor you and they will be back when the migration is finished. They are Payload and Scar. Do you know them?"
"By reputation," Hardtime said nodding.
"Rampage lives here," Jazz said. "He's made the change. You can too if you want to."
They looked at him. "Rampage?" Coldspray asked with surprise.
They nodded. "You can have a life here that is good. There is a chance to go to the University, to bond, to have a family. We have schools here for the infants and the system is dead. No one is allowed to bring it back."
They both nodded. "We understand."
"You will be given an apartment in the bachelor tower in the third housing estate. There will be optics on you orn and night. You can take part in the city and do well or you can go into the prison with the rest of the riff raff. It is all up to you," Flint said.
They nodded. It was silent a moment, then Hardtime leaned forward. "We never had no chances. We lost our genitors somehow when we were young. Too young. We never did find out what happened to them. They went to work one day and never came back. I find this all hard to believe but I want it. I'm tired of being alone. My brother and me, we never had a chance. We want one now."
Coldspray nodded. "We do. We will promise."
"Then you get a chance. Don't frag it up," Jazz said nodding.
Coldspray held out his servo and Jazz gripped it. "We promise, my brother and me." Hardtime nodded.
Alor nodded to them and gripped their servos. "Flint will take you to the medics for the device. If you could show them to their supervisor, Flint, I will let Prime know about their choices. When Prime comes back, you have to swear on the Matrix that you will do what you say you will. You know what that means don't you?"
They nodded. "You're dead if you frag with a Matrix."
Flint stood and nodded. "Come on. Jetta is someone who you need to meet. He will help you with the rest."
They stood and for an awkward moment didn't move. Then they did following Flint out of the door. Jazz glanced at Alor who was staring at the door with a quiet expression. "Think they will be okay?" he asked.
Alor nodded. "I do." Then he grinned. "It's nice to win one."
Jazz nodded. "I hear ya."
=0=TBC
2012 (10)