The Diego Diaries: Moving On 9 (dd3 153)
-0-In the Conference Room
They all sat silently mulling over the possibilities, then Ratchet sat forward. "I would consider that, Optimus. You get one chance to make an impression. Your mystery has been an asset. That being said, you know how I feel about controlling the message. There has been tremendous speculation about you in the press all over the world. It might be time to let the Earth in on the joke."
Prime nodded. "I agree. We will have to discuss the final decision together. What I want to know now is what and when with the Congress. The United Nations can be at our convenience but some in the House of Representatives are starting in once more and I want it handled. The intel on the troublemakers is not good. The Family is back and so is a techie group that goes by Mech." He glanced at Elita and nodded.
She leaned forward glancing around the table. "Jazz and I have been dividing the intel and working on our own piece of the big puzzle. Jazz has concentrated on the possibility of 'Cons in the migration and why the mass has broken into four parts. I on the other servo have been working all the angles about the trouble on Earth.
"There is a shady organization called Mech that is financed by wealthy businessmen and paramilitary organizations that are trying to acquire tech and making their own to use against us. They are very hard to trace. Apparently they have upped their game since Intel-Martin but we're working on their network. They open it, use it for a day, then move on. We have endless broken links and dead ends. But in the end, they can't withstand our own tech.
"The Mech organization is military. It has regimented organization and participants include perhaps even current military personnel," she said. "They cover their faces and have advanced skills and weapons. There is talk in the underground doom prepper boards that they are working out tech that can 'handle' us."
"Doom preppers?" Starscream asked. "That sounds odd."
"It is. The participants are odd as well. They're working out their own survival against the end of the world. They're armed, dug in and dangerous, many of them. All in all, they are fertile ground for the ideas of these extremists and would provide assistance and safety for them given a chance. Not all of them are doing so. But enough are that it's worrisome.
"There is word that some of the mercs that Daniels had with him are gathering into this group. That means they will have direct intel on us that they can exploit. Even if the mercs are biased and slag us, the others are smart enough to understand and glean out what they might need anyway. The money that is supporting this is supporting seven House members that are scattered through important committees on defense, national security, the military and us. They don't like the idea of supporting soldiers participating with us. That could become a real issue."
"They will know about you, Optimus. They will get the first shot at making you known to the world," Ratchet said sitting back. He considered that. "I know how important first impressions are. You have an almost god-like status due to your invisibility. Maybe it will be beneficial for you to show up and let them see you. The Washington Convention Center is big enough to allow you inside. We can think about it depending on what Elita can turn up."
Optimus nodded. "I agree." He glanced at Jazz. "What do you know about the migrations if anything?"
He paused a moment then glanced at Blackjack. "The flights lifted off didn't they?"
Blackjack looked to one side and nodded. "They did a breem ago. We will have an overview of things in about three joors. It will come back in bullets that we'll have to unwrap and decipher for the data."
Prime nodded. "Alright. Right now the migration is priority one. We will have to have a military response waiting if they get out of servo. Then the issue of Earth and the problem there is priority two. Those are the ones that matter right now. The rest will come. I would like you to convey to your departments and your personnel my personal thanks for the work that is being done. I know we are always seemingly under the gun but we have triumphed. We will have over eight hundred thousand citizens when this migration has landed. That is no small achievement for a group that came here with five individuals looking for the AllSpark. I am proud of you. All of you."
They sat a moment enjoying the praise, then Alor grinned leaning forward to the camera. "I understand that you're keeping Flint handy since Ratchet is in the brig."
Amused optics turned to Ratchet and Prowl who looked like he wanted to crawl under the table. He sat staring at his datapad which he clutched in both servos. He looked like a very small child who was trying to do good. Optimus smirked slightly. "That is what we have to do. We have to part out a lot sparklings over the next few."
Magnus sat staring at Prowl, then the grinning face of Ratchet. "What exactly is the final verdict on these two miscreants."
Venture glanced at Magnus. "Prime has made his decision. I doubt that he has to share it with all of us."
"These two are senior Autobots. Officers. They have a duty to be appropriate for the ranks. They weren't. I for one want to know what the final verdict is."
Venture and Magnus shot nuclear optics at each other, then turned to Prime who sat grinning at Prowl's discomfort. He glanced at the two stern mechs, then sat straighter. "They will overnight in the brig for four more nights."
Venture nodded. "That is fair. We have a lot of work ahead and my son is an integral part of the operation. It would be detrimental to all if he weren't able to function fully."
Prowl glanced at his atar, then Magnus. Then he glanced at Ratchet. That bot was grinning. "Too bad my atar isn't here to give you hell, Magnus. He would," Ratchet said with a chuckle.
"Your atar should have paddled you more, Ratchet," Magnus said glancing hotly at Ratchet. He looked at Prime. "Then they will be roaming the earth during the orn?"
"We have too much to do to play by the book for now, Magnus," Prime said oddly enjoying himself.
Magnus sat back and shook his helm. "You are much more magnanimous than I am, Optimus. There would be serious jail time for this offense. Abusing prisoners, drunk and disorderly, abusing rank and privilege … those are just a few of the charges."
"You were busy," Alor said grinning at Ratchet. "Make sure I go with you next time."
Magnus looked at Alor. "Really, Alor. You do get my point don't you?"
"I do," Alor replied. "But I also get the idea of relaxing sometimes. I don't approve of you going to the prison to fight, Ratchet. I am very disappointed that you and Prowl went there without me."
Snorts and grins went around the table as Ironhide grinned like a Cheshire Cat. Magnus tapped his digits on the table in irritation. "There is no hope."
"Nothing a good frag won't cure, Magnus," Ironhide said with a grin. He looked at Arcee. "I delegate that to you."
"That's very generous of you, Ironhide," Arcee said with a chuckle.
Magnus shot her a pained optic, then Optimus sat forward resting his elbows on the table. "I don't think that we have taken into consideration the effect that eons of war has had on all of us. We are now in a position where we can relax a little and things we have put to one side seems to be seeping out. I am ordering you to speak to Jarro if you find yourself feeling distress or someone around you mentions that they feel you are not yourself. I want us to recover here. Not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually. This is our home now. We want it peaceful." He sat back. "Anything for the good of the order."
"Uraya said 'atar' last night," Ironhide said with a HUGE grin.
"What?!" -Prowl, Ratchet
"Yep," Ironhide said. "If you two would say out of jail you could hear a few new things now and again."
"Where's Hero, slagger. Where did you stash her?" Ratchet asked giving Ironhide the stink optic.
He looked at Ratchet, then caved. Pulling her out of his carry hold, she was gently placed on the table. She was inside her little carry bag, the Seeker one that Ironhide used to take her around. She was recharging, the ears of a soft bunny poking out of the neck of her little sack bag. Everyone leaned forward and looked at her.
She was tiny and shiny, her little chevron gleaming along with her satiny black infant armor. She was as cute as a button, her little pug nose and sweet face as adorable as could be. Prowl reached over and stroked her little cheek. She stretched, then settled. Everyone had an 'aww' moment.
"I want," Alor said looking at her from above on the monitor. "If you come later today, Ironhide, I expect that she will come too."
"I'll bring her, Ada," Ironhide said basking as he was in the lavish love flowing from everyone to his daughter.
"Not until I get some goodness," Ratchet said picking her up. He cuddled her against his cheek, then grinned as she lay in his servos. She was still asleep and comfortable luxe in her little sack bag. "I guess we have to work now."
Everyone nodded as they sat staring at the infant, Optimus included. No one moved.
Ratchet snorted as he looked around the room. "Class dismissed?" he asked glancing at Optimus.
He looked at Ratchet with a grin, then nodded. "Yep."
Everyone got up, some petting the infant, the rest moving out to go do their part of the miracle until only the four usual suspects were left. Prime reached over and took the baby. "She's so tiny."
"She's going to be tall. Maybe." Ironhide grinned. "I think she will be tall."
"Why?" Ratchet asked sliding his arm behind Ironhide's chair.
"She has tall genitors. Our CNA has to count for something."
"Could be," Ratchet said with a grin. "Do you want a daughter?"
Prowl shrugged. "I want a football team. A Praxus Science farm team." He grinned at Ratchet. "Loser."
Ratchet snorted and kicked Prowl's ped. "Do I detect our winged wonder rallying?"
"No," Prowl said with chagrin.
"Get over it, Prowl," Ratchet said with a smirk. "It's just one more page in the legend."
"Is that what it is," Optimus said glancing up at Ratchet with a grin.
"Magnus threw a rod," Ironhide said with a trace of satisfaction.
"Magnus is a good spark. He's just tightly wound. He wants everything to matter for the Cause," Optimus said sliding Hero gently onto the table and pushing her toward Ironhide. That big mech picked her up and tucked her into his arm. He grinned at her. They grinned at him. They all broke up to go their way.
-0-In the rec room by the door to Central Corridor
"I suppose I won't see you for lunch."
"I'll come by with lunch," Ironhide said glancing at Ratchet. Hero was waking slowly. "Little femme needs her beauty sleep. I think I'll go hang her on her peg in the office. We have to get the orders ready for the fighter groups that we're putting together."
Ratchet nodded. "I'm going to the medical center at Terra. I hear they're doing a test run of an underground train system to carry passengers back and forth. Anything you know about that?"
"They plan to cut congestion and allow the run to the schools without clogging the roads. They're testing them for the next three orns. I would plan to be stuck here and there because they're debugging the system ahead of the crowds."
Ratchet nodded and kissed him. "Go. Play."
With a grin, he nodded and headed toward the armory and his office with its pile of work and Hero's peg. It would be a very pleasant morning once Holi returned Hero back to him. How could a mech get anything done when their sparkling was being cuddled by a sparkling-crazed little femme? It could give a mech vapor lock he thought as he stepped out of the elevator and tried to sneak into his office unseen.
He wouldn't make it.
-0-On the road to Shambala. Or Terra. Whichever came first
He walked down the steps of a new subway entrance that was just outside of the Fortress. They were being constructed all over the city and Terra, designed to handle and direct flow on a subway system that was being utilized to move hundreds of bots swiftly here and there in the fastest least congested manner.
He walked out onto a large platform that had been cut out partially under the fortress and marveled. The tracks came in and went out into the darkness of the tunnels beyond. Yet he stood on a well lit platform with benches along the walls. Across the way on the far walls, a diagram of the system could be easily viewed. It had directions for all locations and the system covered the entire city and Terra. It would next be expanded out to Aerie Hill. It was going to be awesome. The sparklings could ride to school much easier than above ground.
A soft sound of air whooshing filled his audials as he turned along with three other mechs he didn't know to watch as a light blue train breezed into the station. It was enclosed with enormous windows and plenty of seating inside. The doors opened so he stepped inside turning to watch as the door closed. The mech driving hit the gas as the train pulled out heading to the switching station at Central Hub underneath Fort Max. From there, every line radiated in and out, crossing in some places with the industrial train system that carried things here and there. Some lines would have to wait as freight trains passed by but it would be a small wait.
When he reached Central Hub, he exited and waited for the "Terra West" train to arrive. When it did, he climbed aboard and headed out, one of the first citizens to do so for now. Soon the place would be crawling with citizens newly minted heading for work and home, happy and safe, nourished and healing from their hurts mental and physical. It would be like Cybertron for the first time in eons.
It would be glorious.
-0-Cybertron
They sat at the campfire watching as the youngling metallurgist worked nearby heating up shell casings. They were making bombs. There was a gathering of intensity that the two hadn't felt in a long time. It was both worrisome and exhilarating. Kestrel leaned against Tag. "How do you feel?"
"Better," the big bot said.
"You mustn't do things like that, Tag. We don't have the medical options if you drop something on your ped again like you did."
"I know, Kestrel. Don't worry," Tag said patting his bond's servo.
"It will be night soon. The younglings will go out to patrol," Kestrel said.
"I know." Tag looked at the weary face of his Only One. He was completely different than the mech he bonded with long ago. The color of his paint, the shape of his finials, all of it was changed. But then they had no choice. They couldn't be found. They couldn't be captured. It would be disastrous if they were.
The parents of Optimus Prime had vanished into the chaos and under no circumstances could they surface again. So they sat in the camp of Dai Atlas doing what they could, waiting for something to happen. There was an air of expectancy going around. Something good could be coming. Dai Atlas knew, they all thought, but he wasn't saying. It was the way of all the cells. No one knew all of it. Many knew a bit of it. But only Dai Atlas seemed to know all of it they were sure.
And he wasn't telling. For now.
-0-TBC 2013 (1) edited 4-21-18