The Diego Diaries: Psy-Ops 25 "Episode 1, Platoon: Autobot City, Part 2" (dd3 105)
-0-Prime Residence
They sat as a family watching together. Prime having passed it through the censors already knew how it went while Prowl and the family were watching it for the first time.
Venture sat quietly absorbing things.
Miler holding Spirit on his lap glanced at Prowl. "I was worried at the intimidating tone in the opening sequence but now I think it's perfect. They need to know what we can field."
Prowl nodded. "I agree."
The commercial ended and the show resumed.
-0-CUE ALIEN MUSIC AND SCENE OPENS
The Airfield was busy with planes coming and going, Seekers landing and taking off while freight and fuel were steered here and there. The vantage point was from a height maybe twelve to fourteen feet off the ground and the angle was perfect to see clearly what was going on all around. The camera panned to the right, focusing on big mechs gathering with bags and weapons in sight at their feet.
Shuttles were lined up on the flight line, some of them loading and others unloading. Huge mechanisms walked nearby with two of them standing together talking quietly just off the flight line. Small vehicles went here and there, some of them to hook up to space craft, some to carry things that were big pallets of this and that. The camera focused on a couple of big mechs who noticed and looked down with bemused expressions on their oddly handsome faces.
:Where are you going?: -off screen voice asked.
A tall black and green Autobot soldier looked down at them contemplating an answer. "We're going on station at the Forward Base on Io."
:How long will you be gone?: -voice
"We're there for a decaorn."
:That's ten days?: -voice
The big bot considered the question a moment going through the process of accessing language translations files. Then he grinned looking down as other bots began to gather and look down, too. "Yes. We call them orns our days."
:Are you Wreckers?: -voice. :I hear that its usually Wreckers or front-liners that get to go to the Forward Bases:
"Both do. Some are both. I am." The mech, a big black and green bot looked at the Master of the Muster who was calling out crews to leave. He looked down at the camera. "Come out sometime. We'll show you how we roll."
With that, he gathered his gear and with a cheerful grin and nod to the camera he and his fellows climbed onto their shuttle which promptly lifted off disappearing into the sky almost immediately. The camera follows it and the images fade.
Images fade back in, the musical tones underneath somber and low. The scene that appears is a construction site where several stupendously enormous bots are standing over a hole in the ground beside a steel meshed construction. It was the edge of a pit where a struggle was going on below. One of the titanically big mechs was poised partly into the hole, his brutal arm extended to grip something. He was braced but the dirt was crumbling, falling into the pit in dribs and drabs.
Construction was halted as others were coming including a tall figure with a determined expression. He would be identified as Hoist by his fellows. The big mech poised over the pit was called Scar, a former Decepticon bad ass. His body backed up his moniker. He was looking down at something or someone unseen in the pit.
"Hold on tightly. Don't let go, infant." Scar turned his helm to spot his partner standing looking down with concern. "Bulkhead, get a medic."
Bulkhead shout for one while Scar struggled to hold onto a cable. "GET ME A WINCH!"
Hoist hurried to the other side where more stable ground appeared to be and transformed into a heavy duty winch truck. A hook spooled out so Scar grabbed it. He gripped the hook and leaned forward speaking downward to someone below. "Grip this young with your free servo. I have your other one. I won't let go."
A pain-filled agonized voice was heard. The camera hear but don't see the speaker yet. "It's packed so tight. I can't move my legs."
"Don't worry, infant. Grip the hook. Lock your servo. When I lean down, grip the hook with your other one. I'll hang onto your shoulder. Can you get it?" Scar leaned forward as more dirt fell. He peered into the hole with intensity. It was silent, very silent but for the sound of the winch truck, the soft moaning sounds of pain from the hole and the confident quiet encouragement of Scar.
Then Scar began to slip.
Bulkhead grabbed his arm and held while the crew around scurried to get a rope. They slipped it around Scar and braced him, holding him tightly. He grunted shouting back, "No more!"
They relaxed slightly, the line they braced secured in the grip of half a dozen big mechs.
"Keep it taut. No slack," Scar said as he leaned forward to peer into the darkness. He turned on lights and the camera could see a dirt smudged young mech trapped up to his hips in impacted dirt and rubble. Nearby, a cavity in the earth showed crumbling ice and mud. It would appear the culprit was discovered.
The youngster looked injured and exhausted as he hung by his servo gripped tightly by Scar.
The big ferocious appearing bot leaned forward and with a soft gentle voice said, "Grip the line, infant. Grip it tight with both servos, Dali. I won't let you fall farther."
The young looked up and sobbed in pain and fear. "I know, Scar. It's just so tight."
Scar nodded, his voice encouraging and sympathetic. "That will hold you, Dali. It'll help us winch you back up." Scar looked up to the pit boss who'd returned. Bulkhead nods to Scar and he returns it.
Bulkhead walked over to stand beside Hoist and patted his hood. "Very slow, Hoist. Make it really slow. Fix your audials on Scar."
"Roger," a voice said emanating from the truck as the winch began an incrementally slow rose upward. As the line rises the sound of groans and a cry were heard.
Scar held up a servo to halt the process.
Hoist stopped immediately.
"Get me some micro-mini-cons and a torch. We need to cut some steel. I see the hold up. And get me a rope to harness the kid. I don't want him to lose his grip even if he's locked in." Scar looked down. "You're locked aren't you, Dali?"
A weak pain-filled voice answered. "I am, Scar. Don't leave me."
"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." Scar sat grim faced and precariously perched halfway down the deep pit that would one day be the foundation of a new school building. The collapsed side of the stone and gravel foundation could be seen by the cameras. Jagged bits of steel, a support for the stone and aggregate fill to come stuck out here and there, one of them pressing against the kid, Dali who could barely be seen in the pit. "You'll be home for dinner, Dali. You can tell me about that mech of yours."
A soft chuckle filled with pain could be heard in the grim stillness.
Nearby crews stopped working and assembled around the scene of the accident. One of them, a tall dignified mech with an outstanding paint scheme looked especially pained. "Do we need to get the hospital here?"
"The site medic is coming. The call has been put into the hospital, Copperton. When we get him out, the runabout will take him there for treatment." Bulkhead who was speaking with the elegant mech glanced upward. "Here comes the runabout."
Nearby kicking up dust and dirt a medical runabout landed. Two mechs stepped off both carrying med-i-kits. They hurried over. One was an enormous bot with black and dark green features on a big hulking frame that was fronted by an oddly handsome enigmatic orange face. The other was a smaller bot especially elegant with a white face and an attitude.
"What happened?" he asked in a voice that was borderline insolent and all around sassy.
The cameras panned back to take them in. They're extremely divergent in type and size. But the smaller bot makes up for that difference in personal charisma.
"The wall collapsed. There's a segment of frozen water in the soil and it rendered unstable," Bulkhead said to them.
The pilot of the runabout joined them along with two techs with a stretcher.
"We have a youngster pinned down there with steel and we're going to get it cut. He's probably got some broken structures because he's in pain."
The smaller red and white bot nodded. His name was Knockout. The other is Breakdown.
Knockout stepped closer to scan the pit. A beam of light emitted from his forearm, then he stepped back. "We have some broken struts. There's wounds as well. Two pieces of the steel framework have punctured him and he can't be pulled out until that's taken care of. Nothing terminal but all of it is serious."
Bulkhead walked to Scar filling him in.
Two tiny mechs ran up with a torch kit in servo.
The group gathered around while Knockout supplied details. They then were lowered into the pit by rope.
Tension permeates everywhere. All of the crew watched and waited grimly. The sound of torches could be heard in the hole. A cry or two now and again from the pinioned bot echoed faintly out of the gaping pit.
"Scar!" A mini-con welder called up to Scar who was still perched in the hole comforting the now secured kid. "You can pull him up!"
Scar looked up glancing toward Bulkhead who patted the tow truck hood. "Slow, Hoist. Listen for Scar and the mini-cons."
The tow began slowly, ever slowly. Cries were heard. Words from min-cons could be heard.
Then Scar began to emerge holding onto the winch line as he scrambled upward. "Easy. Easy. Hang on, Dali. Take it slow."
The servos of a big tall mech could be seen, then arms, then a young agonized face.
Mini-cons were winched up and pulled out of hole.
The injured youngster was barely conscious as he was laid onto the ground, his helm held gently by Scar. Scar whispered something to the young who nodded. He was barely aware.
"Get ready to pull the kid out," Bulkhead ordered as the two were pulled up and over.
A stretcher was waiting for Dali and he was gently placed upon it. He had to be medically induced to let go of the hook. He was lifted gently and carried to the runabout with Scar, Knockout, Breakdown and Bulkhead following. Discussion was held out of the range of camera microphones, then Scar boarded with the young and doctors. The ship lifted off as Bulkhead watched it go. He came back to the silent grim delegation of workers were watching.
"How is he?" a mech asks.
"Going to the hospital. He'll be alright." Bulkhead peered into the pit. "Let's get this fragger straightened out. I want someone from Geology to come and sonar the rest of this site. Get them here, Banzi."
A tall mech with a serious expression and a white and orange paint scheme made the call. The others with relief begin to fix the mishap.
-0-CUT TO THE HOSPITAL, EMERGENCY FLOOR, AUTOBOT CITY MEDICAL TOWER
The young mech was lying on a diagnostic med berth. Knockout and Breakdown were standing together looking over him doing the indepth prescriptive diagnostic scans. "I think we need an orthopedic structural specialist," Knockout said to Breakdown as he pointed out inside the young's pierced side a number of broken interior structures.
Breakdown agreed. "I'll see who's on duty." He walked to a nearby computer.
Scar who standing at the front of the berth looked down at sedated youngster. "How bad is he?"
Knockout glanced up. "He has some internal structural damage. It'll take surgery to repair it. He has a crushed ped. He has a structural fracture up his left leg. That'll require micro-welding of a kind few can do. I *suppose* our resident mad doctor will do that."
"Ratchet?" Scar asked glancing up at Knockout.
"Who else?" Knockout stood with a peeved look on his handsome face. "This kid will live. He won't be working for a few orns. He needs to seriously let his internal processes do their job without stress. Any stress applied to these new welds and replacement parts could cause them to collapse. He must make sure they have a chance to set and cure."
Scar nodded as two bots came through the door. They discussed the situation and the patient was handed off to their particular expertise and care. Scar stayed with Breakdown who would assist the two doctors who'd repair the youngster.
Knockout walked out of the emergency room and down to the office where he worked for the shift as Officer of the Day, Emergency. He entered and sat staring at his pile of desk work. Then he noticed the humans. Looking down at a camera that was looking up at him, he spoke warily. "What are you doing here?"
:We were interested in your comments about Ambassador Ratchet. They make it sound like you two aren't friends: -off camera voice.
A smirk and snort greeted that statement. "You can say that. Are you the fleshies that are here to make a film about the soldiers or some such slag?"
:We are. We wonder if you would like to talk to us: -voice
"About what?" His wariness was audible as he regarded them.
:About you, your life, your beef with Ratchet. Are you an Autobot or a Decepticon?:
"You have to ask?" The big smirking bot leaned forward grinning at the camera, his silky elegance almost palpable. "I am … or shall I say I was a Decepticon. I'm Knockout, one of the few Decepticons that favor a vehicle mode."
:Why?: -voice.
"Why? Because I look great in white steel belted radials."
The camera focused on the tires seen just over the bot's shoulders. :You do:
Knockout sat back looking at them with his yellow optics and his utterly inscrutable white face. "Are you talking to Decepticons, too? They have a story to tell."
:We are. What's yours?: the voice asked.
Knockout stared at them a moment, then shrugged slightly. "I was born a high caste into a politically important family. We were industrialists and worked in government service, too. The family wanted a doctor and I wanted some adventure. The two goals coalesced rather well if I say so myself."
:How did you get into the Decepticons? Why not the Autobots instead?: -voice
He snorted. "Those school boys? I wanted adventure and a good time. The 'Cons provided that."
:But you're here. You're living with the Autobots. Do you have an Autobrand?:
Knockout stared at them a moment, then his wings fairly quivered with offense. Leaning forward, his elegant handsome face brimming with angsty insult, he came close to the speaker. Uncomfortably close. "Puh-lease. There's no need to be insulting." He sat back. "I put a lot of store into my appearance. Having an Autobrand would clash with my style."
:Did you have a Deceptibrand?:
He grinned slightly. "But of course. That brand had style. Like me." He grinned at them. "Any more questions, squishies?"
:Not right now. Don't be a stranger: -the voice
"Don't count on it," he said with a chuckle as he turned back to his desk.
-0-Fade out. Fade in. Cut to studio again
The door opened and a tiny youngster named Sadee walked in nearly dragging her over-sized art portfolio. There were sketches out the wazoo, a few watercolors that had potential and two finished paintings that had been worked out through collaboration with her new god, Sunstreaker. She put it down and smiled up at him. "Hi."
He looked down and grinned. "Hi. I see you did your homework."
"I did. Let me show you," she said as she knelt down and began to unpack her piles and masses of awesome stuff. Sitting on a couch nearby reading The Autobot City Daily News, Sideswipe grinned. Sunstreaker grinned back.
The camera would linger on the two kneeling on the floor discussing the art the little femme presented, flashing on Sideswipe from time-to-time. The episode would finalize itself on the two discussing art as the music quietly returned. Then it would fade out altogether.
The music played as the ending began, the image of Scar coming and going through the interplay of dark and light. When they faded to darkness the last time the credits began to roll. The last words changing from Cybertronian glyphs to English were a profuse thank you to the Prime of Cybertron, the platoon and their families and an invitation to see the next episode in a week's time. Then it ended.
-0-Trine
"That was slagging awesome." -consensus opinion.
-0-At Scar's home
"Only One, you were wonderful."
Intense quietude as Only One redeemed a few sins in the silence and gratitude of his own processor. He pulled his bond and their daughter closer. Life wa,s perfect for him. It might get better as life went on but this was one of the high points in his internal 'awesome moments of my life' reel.
-0-At Knockout and Breakdown's apartment
"You look good."
"I do don't I."
(grin) "I look good, too."
"You do, Breakdown. I think I pissed Ratchet off."
"You do that all the time. When are you going to stop being a slagger?"
"Would you like it if I did?"
"Yeah. Maybe."
Both grin.
-0-Prime Residence
"That was great. Its better than I hoped for," Prowl said glancing up at Optimus.
He nodded. "It rather humanizes us a bit. For that I am glad."
Prowl agreed.
-0-In the bosom of love
"He's hopeless."
"He is, Ratchet."
"He's a slagger."
"He is." Ironhide grinned.
"He does look good in steel belted radials."
(grin) "He does but you look better." Ironhide sincere and smart, too.
"Thanks, Only One." (grin)
"You're welcome."
They both grinned.
"You look better, Ada," says a tiny yellow and white Seeker said as he sits between them. He got a squeeze from both his old dads.
=0=TBC 2012 (12) 12-12-2022