The Diego Diaries: Shadow Box 47 edited for boo-boos :D
-0-That same day
The film crew met at IntraComm to work out the editing for the third to last episode of the first season of 'Platoon'. They worked quietly together, then took a break.
"What do you want to do about the mission that's being planned? I hear that there's new aliens in the mix here," Jack Mellar asked.
Aaron Belcher looked at him a moment. "Let's see if we can push our luck. Let's see if we can go along."
They both nodded and broke, walking back to the project at hand. If they could end the first season on a wartime note, it would make it easier to get the studios to beg on their knees hard enough to have a second season. The ratings were through the roof, sponsors were clambering over the top of each other to advertise on the show and awards were poised on the horizon to bury them in their gilded wondrousness. It was all good.
Artistically, ending with the war note would be awesome. The last shot Mellar imagined were the ships bursting out of space bridges heading into a hailstorm of fire, then freezing to fade out. The images of Scar would be the last scene as the first season ended with suspense and dramatic effect.
He would beg on his own knees if that's what it took to get Optimus Prime's agreement. He had no shame. None at all.
Such was the artistic temperament.
Probably.
-0-Ratchet
He walked into the clinic at Aerie Hill toward the officer of the shift.
"Hi, Swirl. I was wondering if you have seen Sky Warp for any reason whatsoever?"
Swirl who was the head doctor during the swing shift smirked. "Nope. You should know better than to ask me that, Ratchet. That slagger is hiding out."
"I thought so," Ratchet said with a grin. "I will rip his aft off when I catch him." He turned and walked out heading from the beautiful outbuilding that had been erected for medical, social and other pursuits among the Seekerkin. As he did, he walked down the cobblestone sidewalk to a place where the Elders liked to sun themselves and play card games. The mech he was looking for was there. "Hi," Ratchet said sitting down next to Silverclaw. The other elders were there and nodded, smiling at the medic who had made the first overture for them to come into the colony as equals. They knew of his efforts for Starscream and the trine's first hatchlings so the sense of respect and obligation that created would be forever for them.
"Hello," Silverclaw said with a nod of greeting. "I am assuming you are searching for Sky Warp."
"You read my processor," Ratchet said nodding back. "I am assuming this femme is the new Elder for the Southern Clan?"
"She is. This is Harrier."
Ratchet rose and bowed. "Elder Harrier, I am honored to meet you and congratulate you on the ascendancy to the leadership of your great people."
Harrier rose and bowed back. "Thank you, Doctor. I welcome you into the Seekerkin and the Southern Clan as a friend of our people. I am very happy with the progress of our mutual son, Sunspot. There is a happiness in that little mech that I know comes from the unconditional love that you and your bond give to him. Thank you."
Ratchet grinned. "It is the easiest thing that we do, taking care of that little mech. He's a lovely baby."
Harrier nodded and sat. "Won't you join us. I would like to know about Sky Warp."
Ratchet sat. "He has hatchlings on the way and I am having a hard time getting him to come in. He hasn't gone to the clinic either. I don't want to have complications nor do I want to come in the middle of the night to find him in distress."
"Why won't he come to the doctor?" Harrier asked with a puzzled expression.
"He's younger than Thundercracker and Starscream. I think they treat him differently perhaps. That's my guess. But I also know that younglings sometimes get scared easily, especially about reproduction which most of our mechs know nothing about. I want to know that his process is going well, how many hatchlings we're looking at and when the incubation transfer is going to happen. He's ignoring me, the slagger."
Harrier grinned slightly, then paused in internal communication. After a moment, she grinned at Ratchet. "You may go to the clinic. He will be there."
Ratchet grinned. "I knew you would be the way to go."
They grinned. "Let us know in future how we can help you, doctor. We are aware of your efforts for us and we appreciate it."
Ratchet grinned. "Until all are one," he said.
They nodded. "That is the only way," Silverclaw said.
Ratchet bowed and turned ambling off to find the elusive Seeker of his nightmares. They watched him go. "That is a fine mech and doctor," Silverclaw said. The others nodded. "I also hear he's out of his processor too."
"I have heard that as well," Harrier said with a chuckle. "I feel for Sky Warp."
They all chuckled and turned back to the game at servo.
-0-At the clinic
Ratchet sat cooling his heels in the emergency room waiting for Sky Warp. When he appeared in the doorway, Ratchet pointed at the med berth. "Sit."
Sky Warp looking at Ratchet with his usual scowl vented a sigh. Walking to the berth in poor form, he sat. They glared at each other.
"Spill it, mech. What the frag are you trying to prove?" Ratchet asked.
"I'm here." He sat and stared glumly at the doctor who in all likelihood would be the one who would manage the hatching.
"And what a fine moment this is. I am overcome by your good spirits," Ratchet said beginning the scans and plugging the morose mech into the machines. They waited at stand-off, then Ratchet spoke. "You are a slagger for avoiding seeing me. You know the rules. What brought this on?"
Sky Warp looked at him, then the floor. "I … have my reasons."
Ratchet considered that. Then he considered the mech's age, the lack of information about reproduction among the population and the process of separation and incubation. Most of the mechs he knew and worked around understood interfacing and the other methods of 'sex' that Cybertronians used for personal gratification. That part almost seemed wired into them, the fraggers.
They could frag and form bonds and the like, but most didn't understand the mechanics or mechobiology of reproduction. Sky Warp was obviously scared. Ratchet vented a sigh, then looked at the board. "You are sparked. You have to face it. There is no way out without help from me or a slagging specific accident. Being afraid alone is worse than being afraid in a group."
Sky Warp glanced at him, then the floor. He didn't say anything but his tense body language told the story.
"You have one hatchling. Its a mech and in very good condition. However, you're filled with holes. The thing about babies, Sky Warp is that they will take from you what they need and if you don't supplement, you suffer. Processor aches? Extreme fatigue? A ravenous appetite and thirst? Aches and pains in the joints and a fluttering spark in your chest?"
Sky Warp looked at Ratchet sharply. "Maybe."
"Maybe my aft," Ratchet said. "You're being pillaged by your hatchling because you are a dunce." Ratchet turned and walked to the cupboard and computer, his back oblivious to the cross expression of his patient. "I'm going to be giving you a butt load of supplements and you will take them. If you don't, I will go not only to your elders and complain at the top of my vocal processor, I will tell Starscream that you are a whimp." He glanced at the youngling who had an expression of concern on his handsome face. "I see I have your attention."
"I don't want to be anything but a good parent," Sky Warp said with an emotional expression. "I just remember watching Starscream and it looked like it hurt."
"It does hurt but only for a moment. When the infants are in the incubator, you feel amazingly good. And lighter. You can't ignore slag, youngling. You could die or the infant could. Would you like that?"
"You know I wouldn't," Sky Warp said with a flash of anger. "I just … I just ..."
"I know," Ratchet said squeezing the youngling's shoulder. "I have a special chip on these bottles. They will measure if you take the supplements and where they go. If you pour them out or ignore them, it will alert me. I have asked the bottle to check you and register when the supplements hit your tanks. If they don't, I will grab a hammer and come after you. Do we have an understanding, youngling?"
"Do they taste terrible?" Sky Warp asked telegraphing his age with his fear.
"They taste like slag but they are temporary. When the infant is out, then you are off the hook unless your dilly dallying has depleted you so much you need to stay on them," Ratchet answered pointedly.
Sky Warp frowned. "One, huh? Why only one?"
"Because you are young," Ratchet said. "Count it a blessing. You get the first one on a pass."
"If you say so," Sky Warp said looking at the supplement bottles in his servo. "What now?"
"I see you once a week or you can opt for Cept who does the separations here," Ratchet replied. "He's very good."
"Starscream will want you," Sky Warp said.
"It's up to you. Assert yourself if you want otherwise. Or I will be here for you," Ratchet said. "Your choice."
Sky Warp looked at him, then the bottles in his servo. "I'll get back to you."
"You better or I will hunt you down," Ratchet said firmly.
Sky Warp smirked slightly. "You are crazy."
"If you say so, youngling. You were the one pretending you weren't sparked," Ratchet said with a smile.
Sky Warp stepped down and nodded. "Thanks."
"No problem," Ratchet said. "You have five orns then be back here or I will track you down and beat your aft."
Sky Warp nodded and walked to the door. He paused and looked back. "Come in five orns, okay?"
Ratchet nodded. "I will, youngling. It will be fine."
Sky Warp stared at him, then nodded. "Okay." Then he turned and stepped out heading for home. He would take the supplements. He would come to Ratchet. He wouldn't like any of it.
-0-Wheeljack and Perceptor
They walked to the air field, a glassed in box on a cart they pulled behind them. A long conversation with Springer, a couple of joors of work and they were ready to modify a Wrecker shuttle for the humans to come along on the mission.
The box was ingenious. Its design was made to fit behind the pilot and allow a perfect view of the road ahead. It was self-contained and had six chairs with seat belts to hold the soldiers in place. It was lined with a transparent coating of the substance that suffused their suits. It would pull oxygen into the container from the atmosphere in the ship which would stay at a breathable level for their needs. It was composed of clear steel, designed for safety and had a number of fail safes including heat, light and back up atmosphere-making equipment designed to kick on if there were emergency conditions.
Reaching the shuttle that would belong to Springer, they entered and began to install the device. Half a joor later, they stepped out and pulled their wagon back to the Fortress. The device was go.
All they needed was Prime's permission.
That would be Springer's job to complete.
-0-TBC For Pip
2013 (2)