The Diego Diaries: Shadow Box 58 edited for boo-boos :D
-0-on the command ship
Prime leaned into the cockpit and caught Rem's attention. "Take us down, Rem."
He nodded and the ship began the long arc to the surface of the planetoid where the alien victims of Cybertronian aggression were held in captivity.
-0-On the ground
Springer moved through the dark to follow the mass of Decepticons that had fled in the surprise attack against them. There were 900 Decepticons working here to keep both campsites in order. 100 were already in custody in the attack led by Jazz. That meant 800 were remaining to be bagged.
Drift walked through the darkness, night vision helping them to follow the tracks of their prey. 241 of their fellows had been caught with their pants down, trapped in their barracks or getting snagged in the assault. 551 Decepticons were moving away into the darkness, leaderless.
-0-On the ground nearby
Optimus Prime walked to the command center followed by his staff. He entered and paused, noting the carnage of the room from the battle to overtake control. Greenlight stood at the main computer interface. She turned and nodded. "We have ended all but the most necessary functions of the system. When Perceptor and Wheeljack come, they should be able to use this interface. The damage is minimal and the power system has been boosted to meet whatever they want to do when we shut down the peripherals."
Optimus nodded. "Thank you. Ratchet is just arriving with the support ships. They should be on board one of the vessels. Could you stay here until they come? I want to be here when they establish contact with the aliens. Did you find any kind of containment device for any more?"
"We haven't looked. Elita and the others are out with the mop up teams," Greenlight said.
Prime nodded. "Alright. I'm going to send someone in to look but for now I'm going to help with the Hu An problem." He turned and walked out followed by his team. When he reached the energon bars of the prison, he paused. The Hu An were standing inside.
Prime was tall enough to see over the fence and noted that a great number of the Hu An were still standing back from him. The ones who gathered at the fence to watch were the bigger ones, the Hu An who were identified by the intel as the females. They stood in a group together.
Prime looked at Sandstorm who was providing security for the prison. :Do we have contact with them?:
:Not yet: Sandstorm replied. He looked past Prime. :Here comes Wheeljack and Perceptor:
They all looked around and noted that Ratchet was walking with the pair. Prime looked at Sandstorm. :Fetch a Decepticon who knows how communication was made with these people:
Sandstorm turned and disappeared around the corner to the area where all of the captured Decepticons were held. A small fenced area was filled with them, the big mechanisms barely able to sit. He stood with the guards and then they opened the gate pulling out two that were officers. A short chat revealed that they were fluent, so they turned and walked back to where Prime stood talking to Perceptor, Ratchet and Wheeljack.
They paused and Prime turned looking at the two bots who looked at him with loathing. :I need to talk to these aliens. I want you to share with us how that is affected:
They looked at him without comment. Sandstorm slapped one of them on the back of his helm. :Answer, dumb aft. You are in custody and have nothing to prove. Megatron won't come to get you:
They glared at him, then the other mech shifted uneasily. :What will happen to us?:
:You're coming to our colony. You will be held until you prove that you can be trusted. Once that is determined, you can apply for citizenship and full rights:
They looked at him incredulously. :We're Decepticons:
:Look at the control house: Prime said. They all turned to glance at the broken building. :That was done by Seekers. We have almost five thousand Seekers living with us. We have easily double that number of Decepticons as well:
They looked at him for a moment. :We have a translation of their language. We can download it to you:
:Do it: Prime said curtly.
The files were downloaded into the bots in his group and when it was complete and integrated, Prime turned to the silent figures standing on the other side of the wire as Sandstorm took the two 'Cons away. They stared back at him, the anger they felt only trumped by the contempt for him they nakedly displayed on their faces.
:I am Optimus Prime: he said.
They stared at him without comment. He stepped closer. "I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. I am here to rescue you from captivity. The Decepticons that have held you are at war with us. We became aware of this camp and have come to liberate it."
They looked at him, then the first turned to the others. Prime watched them patiently as the sounds of the continuing battle came to him over the link designated for battle communications. Groups of the Decepticons were laying down their arms as they came to the conclusion that there was no place to go and they were outnumbered. The Seekers were coming back and they made their presence known by flying low passages over the surface of the planetoid.
When the big Hu An turned, it walked closer to the fence. :We hear you. Tell us why we should believe you:
Prime glanced at Ironhide. :Drop the fence:
Ironhide onlined a canon and pointed it at a generator nearby. A single blast destroyed it and the fence went down. The aliens inside looked at each other, then the big one nodded. :You are making sense. That is more than I can say for the others:
Prime smirked slightly. :You and I have common ground. What do I call you?:
:I am Hu An. we don't tell outsiders our names until we trust and respect them. We don't give that power away without both conditions met:
Prime nodded. :I can respect that. What we need to do now is assist you in getting away from here and hopefully back to your home world:
The big alien looked at him for a moment. :The enemy has our home world. We cannot go back:
Prime nodded. :That is our fate too. Come with us and we will help you:
The Hu An looked at him a moment, then nodded. :We will allow that:
:Flint is the mech who will help you. We have to free the energy aliens in the computers. What do you know about that and can you help us?:
:We can help you: the big alien said. He looked at the others and paused. It was clear they were talking to each other telepathically. Then the Hu An looked at Prime. :We will go to the center now and help them. There is a containment device that holds others. All of them are in danger:
They turned and walked toward the control house while Flint and two Autobots began to help the remaining Hu An get ready to leave for the colony. Ratchet followed them into the barracks where there were several smaller Hu An lying on beds. Ratchet scanned them and noted a number of amazing differences from humans that characterized this new species.
They were not carbon based. Their basic baseline composition was silicon. That it could be so wasn't astonishing to Ratchet. He was used to aliens of all manner of composition. The humans might find it incomprehensible but not him. He was too experienced and knowledgeable.
The Hu An didn't need to breathe atmosphere but had rudimentary lungs that would allow it if they chose to do so. What kept them alive in vacuum were the nondescript metallic bands that they all wore around both wrists.
Ratchet knelt and looked at the small Hu An who lay on the bed. Touching its arm gently, an electrical charge sparkled. He looked up at the Hu An who was his guide. :What is this?:
:We wear them in vacuum. They keep us alive, modulate gravity wherever we are and fulfill a number of other functions. All of us have them. They keep us alive wherever we go. No one is allowed to leave the home world without them."
Ratchet nodded. :Ingenious; he said. :I would like to take these individuals to our ships so that they can be cared for. Do you have a doctor among you?:
:We don't have doctors: the Hu An said.
Ratchet glanced up considering what that might mean. :You don't have them here or you don't have them?:
:We don't need doctors: he replied.
:How do you help the sick? What about these people? They appear to be unwell: Ratchet said.
:They can be healed. We have to have a different place to do it:
:If you tell me what you need, we can help you: Ratchet said.
:We need to leave here. We require a better place to do what we need to do:
Ratchet nodded. :Let's move these people into the ship I came on. There will be beds to lie down on:
The Hu An nodded and with the help of the others, they moved the three debilitated males from the barracks to Kappa who stood in flight format nearby.
-0-In the hinterlands
They began to give up, some of them throwing down their weapons and waiting on their knees, their servos behind their helms. In large and small groups, they threw in the towel. There was no place to go. Guardian Autobots had arrived signaling the kind of foe they would face if they kept up the resistance. Overhead, Seekers were directing the Autobots chasing to the fleeing Decepticon troops.
Springer hunted them with Drift, the two enjoying the chase. Every group they encountered, they turned over to someone else. They were pursuing the last ten mechs when they came to a large crater where they were holed up.
Springer found a broken boulder. Crouching, he looked at the crater. :'CONS! GIVE IT UP! THERE'S NO PLACE TO GO! WE'RE HERE AND WE'RE GOING TO GET YOU ONE WAY OR THE OTHER! GIVE UP AND EAT A GOOD DINNER AT OUR COLONY OR DIE!:
There was no response. Then a mech stood up holding up his servos. Another servo reached up and that mech disappeared. There was a lot of emotional talk coming over the link as a dispute broke out. Then there was shooting. Flashes of light erupted, then Springer jumped up running to the crater. Behind him, other Autobots jumped up and followed.
When Springer reached the edge of the crater, the firefight had died down into a massive fist fight. Bots were beating each other over the helm, punching each other in the face in a riotous disagreement over surrender. Springer and the Autobots stood watching as the surreal scene unfolded before them.
Drift who was standing with his swords in servo grinned. :This is outstanding:
Springer snorted and glanced at him. :Tell me something I don't know. Wanna join them?:
:You have to ask?: the big bot replied.
Springer chuckled. Looking at the others who stood watching the debacle below unfold, he grinned. :WRECK 'N RULE!: he yelled at the top of his vocal capacitor. With that, he jumped off the lip of the crater and ran like a maniac for the brawl. Behind him screaming like banshees, the others followed.
-0-TBC For Pip
2013 (3)