The Diego Diaries: Chaos (dd3 61)
-0-Through the vortex
They came hard, the Guardians blasting through the energy storm, rolling into space on the other end. The majesty of the orange-red planet that they called home spun slowly before them as they fell into their high orbit above a slowly shrinking layer of refugee ships. Some would peel off and go downward guided by Seekers and others would rise from the planet heading to the shipyard and facility on nearby Ceres.
They waited for the call down from Fortress Maximus Control Tower and when it was received, they gently rolled over in a steady downward trend that signaled home was at hand. They touched down at the airfield almost immediately stopping as all around them the grind of reclamation and the crush of ships made their disembarkation slow.
Ratchet stood with a sparkling wrapped in a blanket waiting to go. Ironhide had one in his hold and another in the crook of his arm. Prowl carried one in a hold and the tiniest one in his arms. Prime held the last one in his own hold, the several of them standing at the door waiting for the hatch to open.
The ramp slid out as the door opened and they stepped out into the deep night of the orn. It was busy as everywhere mechs and a femme or two hurried about the business of getting people where they needed to be. Some of the refugees saw Prime as he halted at the bottom of the ramp. They came to him and gave their profuse thanks, their abject grief and the debt they felt they owed him for the sound of his voice reaching them in their deep despair.
They finally were corralled and went onward into a city that had now grown to over 422,000 individuals. They stood in the pool of lights, the ships lifting away and settling down among them as they emptied or prepared to do so. When offloaded, they were analyzed as all around them the great operation began to wind down.
Jazz and Mirage walked toward the group with a grin. "You're home."
Mirage looked at the sparklings. "What's this?" he asked.
Prowl glanced at him. "You don't know?"
They glanced at each other. "No," Jazz said.
"Overlord took six sparklings away from their genitors and tossed them into vacuum before pulling back," Prowl said. "Didn't the two 'Cons tell you?"
Jazz looked at them grimly. "No. We didn't get that part. We didn't ask about what was happening out there. We just asked about Overlord." He looked at the babies he could see. "This is goin' to be fragged getting' the hostages back."
Prowl nodded. "We will," he said equally grimly.
The ship before them moved and lifted up slowly, startling the infants who had fallen back into recharge. Holding them closer, they waited until that ship was gone before following Prime as he headed down the highway to the Fortress. "How is the prison?" he asked.
"It's ready to go. The fifteen that were surrendering are there waiting to give their oath. The other two are already settled. They didn't mention the babies," Jazz repeated with a hint of anger.
"That was why they defected," Optimus replied. "They didn't agree with that slag."
Jazz nodded slightly mollified. "Alright. I am assumin' you want to have a meetin' as soon as possible about the refugees? I'm also assumin' that since the migration route is now compromised, that will be a topic in hand."
"You read my processor," Optimus replied grimly.
-0-Inside the Ops Center
They walked in and went to their stations to gather the latest intel. Reconvening at the center table, they laid it out. Jazz put down a datapad and looked at Prime. "We have 422,310 in population overall. Of those, there are 1,200 newbie Seekers and 3,127 soldiers or those with soldier experience. We have Knights of Cybertron, Circle of Light and zillions of civilians.
"We have thousands of ships which are goin' through the processin' routine, databases out the kazoo to analyze and lots of artifacts, some of which have great cultural significance. A lot of different needed specialties and professions are among the newbies."
"That's good. We need to get them organized for the skills databases," Prowl said.
"The situation on the ground is winding down," Mirage said. "City Hall mentions that they should clear the last group in three joors."
Prime nodded. "Any difficult individuals?"
"There were several taken to the hospital for observation," Jazz said. "They seemed to have emotional problems. Jarro and his staff are on it. There are some elderly that needed hospitalization due to health issues that've been neglected. There are schedules for repairs and surgeries for a number of individuals that Ratchet can speak to tomorrow." He looked up. "We're having a meeting tomorrow?"
Prime nodded. "We need to. We are going to have to establish a presence out there and get those hostages back. We're also going to have to police the migration path. We can not have Overlord making this harder than it is."
They nodded. "I'll get the party started for tomorrow," Jazz said to Prowl. "What's going to happen to these sparklings?"
"We're keeping them together," Prowl said glancing at the tiny mech in his arms. "We need to get them back to their families."
Jazz nodded. "Go and take care of them. We'll handle this end."
Prime nodded. "Thank you. I will meet with whoever needs to make the oath if it's necessary."
"They can wait until tomorrow," Mirage said. "They waited until now. A few joors don't matter."
Prime nodded as he followed the group to the door, through the rec room, down steps, past the courtyard, and beyond. The moons were passing overhead as they walked along the sidewalk that led to Mare Tranquilitatis beyond. They were greeted by refugees and the odd citizen or soldier as they made their way. Prowl had called ahead for help in setting up for the infants in the Residence. By the time they stepped off the elevator at the penthouse, the sounds of voices could be heard inside.
The door opened and Bluestreak smiled. "Welcome back. We're ready to help you both." He stepped aside as they walked into the giant living room. Venture and Ravel was standing in the room waiting anxiously. Ravel walked to Ironhide and took a sparkling. "Oh my. What a terrible life you've had so far," he said gently.
Ironhide retrieved the baby from his hold and Prime did the same. Bluestreak took that baby and looked at the others. "Come on. I'll show you what we did."
They followed him around the corner to the corridor that led to the rest of the apartment. They walked past the bedrooms of the little mechs and found themselves in one of the several extra rooms for guests. It had been remodeled, the berths removed and six little cribs side-by-side were waiting. They were filled with blankets and dollies.
Bluestreak put his baby down and one-by-one, the others were put to bed as well. They looked at the infants. "This is a huge job, Prowl." Bluestreak said to his atar. "I will help you all I can."
"Where are your babies?" Prowl asked.
"They're being cared for by the neighbors. We need to organize help that can come here and manage them or we need to take them to a place where they can be managed. Daycare or something, like the humans have," Bluestreak suggested.
The sparkling school is pretty good about this sort of thing," Ironhide said.
"That will be a possibility. I think I'm too tired to make a good decision now," Prowl said looking at the little infants who were falling into sleep once again.
"We have to get a start on what we are going to do about Overlord and his menace. He is a bad threat to the migration. We need to have any intel that there is about what is coming," Prime said. "Tomorrow will be a busy day."
"I hate to break it to you, Optimus, but it already is tomorrow," Ratchet said with a grin.
"Then we better break for now," Prime said.
They chatted a moment organizing things then everyone gathered to go. As they closed the door, three little mechs were standing in the living room staring solemnly at their genitors. Then they didn't. They were too busy tackling them.
-0-In the bosom of love
They entered quietly, hugging Tie Down tightly. After brief whispered conversation, hugs and a promise to catch up later, Ravel and Tie left. Glancing into the berth rooms and taking count of infants, Ratchet and Ironhide walked to their own. Collapsing, they lay silently for a moment.
"Prowl has a passel of younglings, Ratchet."
"He does."
"He has a thing for infants."
"He does."
"Mech never seemed to the type."
"He didn't."
"Wonder what the change for him was?"
"Orion."
"Do you think so?"
"Sure, Ironhide. He loved Orion and Orion loved him. It's sort of like a dog."
(grin) "How so?"
"Well, you have unconditional love. They love you no matter how fragged you are. They need you completely. You feel validated in a way no slagging bond or slagger friend could ever achieve with you. Like that."
(grin) "Is that so?"
(rolls over and sprawls in the usual way across his big black love cushion) "Sure."
Silence.
"Slagger is a mystery."
"He is."
"Slagger is a sparkling thief."
(grin) "He is, Ironhide."
"Thought about taking a couple of the sparklings on for the duration myself."
"Ah." (grin) "You have sparkling envy."
(grin) "Probably. You do know what this means …"
"No." (grin) "You need to tell me, Ironhide."
"Slagger has eleven infants. We have six."
Pause. "Eleven?"
"Bluestreak, Rambler, T-Bar, Spirit, Miracle and six new babies."
[Pause]
"That's fragged. Maybe we can have Sunspot count as two."
(grin) "We might."
[Pause]
"Slagger cheats, Ironhide."
(grin) "He does. Even when they aren't ours, they're his. Mech is pathological."
"He is." (grin)
[Pause]
"Slagger needs to get sparked again. Seems pretty mellow when he is. Won't need to steal my femme all the time."
"You still whining about Hero?"
"I hardly had a time with her before we had to leave. Nearly cried when I put her into the sparkling school. A mech can't even carry his little femme around without something slagging them. I got lots of compliments about her. She's slagging awesome."
"You sound like Sunstreaker. He hopes the sparklings get on the teevee because they are… how does he say it? Oh, yeah. 'Slagging awesome'."
"They are."
"Won't get an argument from me, Ironhide."
[Silence]
"I suppose I have to take Hero back on again. Little femme needs to have the advantages. What do you think, Ratchet?"
(grin) "She does. You don't even know her favorite munition yet."
"I think she leans to small grenades. Could be wrong."
"Could be." (grin) "Won't be the first time. You got Praxus wrong for a while."
"Little mech likes whatever will fit in his mouth." (grin)
"He does." (grin)
[Silence]
"Did I tell you lately thank you?"
"For what, Ironhide?"
"For this. For our new life. For all the wonderful things in it."
"Not lately. You can commence at will." (grin)
(big squeeze and hug) "Thank you, Ratchet, for all the good things we have now."
"You're welcome."
[Silence]
"Ratchet?"
"What, Only One?"
"I love you. I love our family. I wish you could know how much."
"I think I do." (grin and big hug)
"Halloween will be fun."
"I know, Only One."
"What do you think the younglings should be. Ratchet?"
"I thought a ghost for Sunspot last year. Now with his pretty colors, I thought a sunflower."
(Grin) "That will be cute. A sort-of-flower-around-his-helm thing?"
"I thought so. We could make the other two flowers or something else, too."
"They could go as us."
[HUGE LAUGHTER INSERTED HERE]
"Goodnight, Ratchet."
"Goodnight, Ironhide."
-0-Nearby
He stood at the window staring out into the night. All across the house it was still. He had arisen and walked into the room to check the infants. They were sound asleep. The test would be in the morning when they needed care.
Somewhere in the void desperate genitors suffered. He could feel it in his spark. They would get everyone back. Overlord would pay. Balance would be achieved.
Of this, Prowl made a vow to The One.
The moons traversed the sky, disappearing into the darkness as he stood at the window and watched them go.
-0-TBC 2012 (10) edited 8-9-18