The Diego Diaries: Shadow Box Returns 2 (243) edited for boo boos :D
-0-In an underground cavern on Cybertron
"They are incredibly important and need to go. They are Optimus Prime's genitors."
They stood a moment glancing between the two silent mechs and Dai. Jazz felt electricuted. He was one of the longest lasting and closest friends of Optimus still going having joined with him well before the long slide to the Fall. That his friend's genitors were still alive was an astonishment. He turned and walked toward them, kneeling before the electronic fire. They didn't look up and he felt a sense of their isolation and effort to blend in with the walls. "Hi. I'm Jazz."
One of them glanced up, the one who wasn't leaning. That other bot looked sick and weary in a way that Jazz had seen often on the faces of refugees coming into the colony. "Hi," he replied quietly.
The tone of the bot who spoke was flat, soft and defeated. Jazz arose and walked back to Dai. "They're not good are they."
"No," Dai said worriedly. "Apparently when the Fall began they couldn't reach their son. He was in Simfur launching the AllSpark and they were caught in the middle. But a network formed at the moment it became obvious that Megatron would win and they found both, taking them into deep cover. They changed their appearance and guarded them all this time. The possibility of them falling into Decepticon servos is unthinkable."
Jazz nodded as Elita turned and walked to them, kneeling. She looked over her shoulder. :Do they know Optimus is alive?:
:They do. Just not more than that: Dai replied.
Jazz turned and walked back squatting down beside Elita. He smiled as the other bot roused to look at the two of them warily. They didn't speak, but merely looked at both strangers without expression. Jazz nodded. "We know you are Optimus's genitors."
They blinked and tensed, both of them looking at each other. "Who are you?" one of them asked, the one who seemed more well.
"I am Jazz," he replied gently. "This is Elita. She was more well known to you perhaps as Ariel back then."
They looked at him, then her, then him again. The conversation internally was obvious to both as they discussed the new information. "If you are Ariel, you would know my son's name and where he worked."
"Orion. I worked with him at the docks. We unloaded energon shipments and other freight. We were great friends, your son and I. We still are."
They looked at her, then Jazz. They caught the remark and all its possibilities but didn't say anything. It was clear to both Jazz and Elita that there were eons of conditioning, containment and dashed hopes at work here. It would be necessary to ensure that a slip of the tongue didn't end in disaster for them or those risking all to protect them. It must have been a hellish long existence. It would be merely existence. Life usually had more potential for hope.
"We came from a place called Mars in a system far from here. There is a city there, Autobot City and we want to take you with us when we go back to it," Jazz said gently.
The bigger of the two nodded but said nothing. He glanced at Dai who had joined them. "What about our boys?"
"They can come. They earned it," Dai said. "Can you take ten mechs besides these two?"
Elita glanced at Jazz who shrugged. We can take as many as need to come. The ship will be crowded but we can lift off with a lot more than that."
Dai nodded. "Good. They have taken care of Kestrel and Tagg from the beginning. They deserve to leave with them. Completes the circle."
"So you're romantic too?" Elita asked with a grin.
"I'm a knight after all," Dai replied with a grin of his own. He knelt. "Kes, these bots are from Optimus. They will take you and your boys to Optimus. Do you understand? They can do more for you medically than we can and you will be safe. You can be with your son, safe."
They looked at him and nodded but it was clear that they didn't really believe him. Elita blinked and stood up, the idea of their spark broken weary defeat difficult to take considering the endless hopefulness of their son. "We will take good care of you, Kestrel and Tagg. You will see your son soon, I promise."
Two weary nods greeted that remark, then they leaned on each other as if something had been released, some deflating energy that they couldn't contain or ill afford to lose. It was sad to see.
"We better get this show going so we can leave. The sooner we get them to Ratchet, the better," Elita said grimly.
Jazz and Dai nodded grimly as well.
-0-On the ground at runway seven
They stood together transformed and silent. They turned slowly taking in the view as the sights of Autobot City, Terra and Aerie Hill overwhelmed them. The activity of the airfield was intense with cargo ships coming and going along with massed flights of Seekers on their regular patrols. Some were landing at the moment, their thundering crescendos echoing in the thin atmosphere as they powered down and transformed in midair. Seekers standing nearby asked about their shifts before transforming and thundering off to do theirs.
Fort Max and Metroplex were nearby, their tower lights blinking in the sky as they turned slowly to mark their towering heights to ships. They bristled with antennas just like a massive stone fortress nearby. The guns on that stone building rivaled those of battleships.
Roads paved and wide led everywhere, highways with traffic lined by sidewalks filled with bots going here and there purposefully. Towers rose and disappeared into the distance as well as large commercial buildings. They could see one with Museum of Cybertron in large copper glyphs nearby the stadiums. Two massive arenas loomed nearby the towers, the ones seen on the broadcast.
Beyond that, the telltale signs of industrial activity could be seen. Immaculate factories and plants peeked up between buildings, their purified smoke pouring outward as steam from tall white stacks. All of the above ground factories were white, their stacks noting not only their industrial park location and division of manufacturing but also the Autobrand and the Emblem of the Primes. Flying from tall flagpoles both there and around the city were the flags of Cybertron, the Emblem of the Primes and the Autobrand. It was like being home if home had ever been this clean, peaceful and prosperous.
They turned again and saw Aerie Hill in the distance with Seekers landing, taking off and taking their leisure. Hope turned, then paused tapping the shoulders of others. They turned and he pointed, the group pausing in surprise. He looked at Red Wing. "Is that really the Temple?"
"It is," Red Wing said nodding. "The AllSpark, the Well and the Flame are in there. So are three of the priests."
"I've seen priests. There are more on Cybertron. They're working in the mines," Hope said.
For a moment, the tanks of everyone turned over. Red Wing nodded. "You have to tell Prime."
"Prime?"
Red Wing nodded. "Time to talk to the Prime and give your oaths. Tell him everything. Don't hold back. Your safety is now hinged on our own. If you hold back, it gives the 'Cons the edge. They won't spare you when they come."
They all nodded. "We know," the young brother of Hope said emphatically. "We want to do right."
:This one is a baby: Cloud Burst said to no one in particular.
:I know. Sub adult at least. Frag. Frag them all to the Pit: Taking the youngling gently by the arm, Red Wing smiled. "Come on. I'll be with you the whole time. Then we'll get you a shower and see what your colors are."
"They're gray," he said unaware of the angst that caused everyone.
His brother looked sick himself. "He was hatched after the Fall. All of the hatchlings after the Fall never got their clan colors. The genitors were never allowed to promote them. They were all hatched gray."
Red Wing looked at him in shock, then looked at the youngling. "Did you ever know what they wanted?"
"Yes," he said hopefully. "I remember them telling me."
"Our genitors are still out there," Hope said firmly. His trine looked at him with anguish, then Red Wing with hopefulness. "We think they all are including ours. They just have to find us, Red Wing. Can we do something to make that happen? There are so many trying to get away."
Red Wing swallowed hard, then nodded. "We will try." With a gentle tug on the arm of the youngling, they turned and began to walk to the Fortress nearby.
-0-Four joors later in Kaon
They gathered in the tunnels that would lead them back to the road to the Polyhex. Jazz had gone ahead to see if their rented vehicle was still there. While that was going on word had been sent to the mechs who had been Kestrel and Tagg's bodyguards to assemble at the main camp.
They had gathered, big mechs with grim expressions, their concern for the two they watched over touching. Kestrel had protested albeit weakly that there were others more deserving. Dai had gently explained again how their presence on Cybertron jeopardized everything. They had begrudgingly given in, their flagging health and diminishing will an incentive. They were exhausted, their travail through the eons arduous and unforgiving.
When the new goals had been met and all the data hidden safely, they turned to go. Energon would be flowing to the needy from the new replicators and more that would be built. The comm net had met and exceeded expectations allowing data to flow around the planet undetected from the 'Cons as well as off planet to Mars. Incremental steps were being made. Foundations laid and expanded upon. In the end, they were the rails upon which the freedom express would travel when they came for Cybertron.
It was deadly clear to those left behind that this was a priority for their Prime. It gave them heart, hope and the reasonable expectation that it wouldn't take another nine million years.
Gathered together, they followed Dai moving as swiftly as the two older mechs could manage. Their joints were in need of repair and perhaps replacement from years of toiling as nondescript workers at the same hard labor everyone else had to endure. Privation and sometimes punishment for 'infractions' had taken its toll. The incredible fear of being exposed, of 'their boys' being exposed and the danger to their son had been incredibly emotionally debilitating. They were emotionally, physically and mentally exhausted.
They would take a long time to reach the manhole that would take them to their vehicle. It would take three trips to Polyhex to get them all there. They would then have to make their way to their shuttle through a maze of security before they could even hope to take off for home.
It would be a very long orn.
-0-Ops Center, Autobot City, Mars shortly after
He received the message himself, his alerts letting him know that the team had sent a highly encrypted missive. Prowl downloaded it directly into his files, their mathematically accelerated encryption programming unwinding the endless stream of seemingly random numerals in seconds. When he scanned it he sat a moment, electrical energy suffusing his circuits.
Gathering himself, he looked at his partner, his bond and soulmate. Optimus was working unaware of any disturbance, his handsome noble features consumed with the business of helping his people as they waited for the Seekers to come. They were at this point still coming through the ground bridge. An interview would be necessary.
Prowl considered the number of points all coming together, then commed Ratchet to meet him for a moment. He sat back pretending to scan a datapad as he absorbed the news.
Optimus Prime's genitors had been found and were coming back with the team.
-0-Ratchet
He stood in emergency trading slag with Breakdown and Knockout. The two were cleaning up after an emergency repair to a bot who didn't duck fast enough. They had a truce going, one that sort of came together without a word of agreement. They had reached equilibrium somehow. The buzz caught Ratchet and he paused. Turning at last, he nodded to the two. "I have to go to Ops Center." With that, he turned and walked out to the elevators to leave.
Knockout watched him go with a peeved look. "I can't believe we root for the same team. That cad can't be from Iacon too. He's not classy enough."
"You do know that class talk can get you brigged?" Breakdown asked. "Besides, I'm low caste too and I will punch your face if you keep it up."
Knockout looked up at Breakdown with a smirk. "You know I would love it if you do," he said with a sly tone. "Besides, class is something you have. And baby, you have lots of it."
Breakdown snorted. "Nice recovery." He turned to go to a cabinet to resupply the shelf over the medberth. "That's right. Me, a Stunticon … the personification of class."
"You won't get an argument out of me," Knockout purred as he turned to help him.
And so would go the afternoon … for now.
-0-Ops Center
Ratchet ambled in and paused by the table. "Hey. What do ya want, Prowler? Some of us have to work for a living."
Prowl snorted, rising to stand. "You are such a whiner, loser. Come with me. I need advice on something."
Prime grinned and watched them go to the conference room nearby. Prowl's energy was tense, but then the situation during work often caused that. He turned back to his own problems at servo without much more thought.
Prowl entered the conference room and closed the door behind Ratchet. Pausing a moment to erect unobtrusive but steel tempered firewalls, he looked at Ratchet gesturing him to sit. Ratchet did, a slight frown on his face. "What's up, Prowl?" he asked.
"We got news from the team on Cybertron. They have accomplished all their goals but found themselves in a fix. They have to bring back two bots that aren't in very good condition."
Ratchet nodded, a serious expression on his face. "Alright. We'll have a runabout ready and I will have a team with me that can handle whatever they bring back. Who are they?"
Prowl paused a moment, as if to say it out loud would be to jinx the possibilities. "Kestrel and Tagg."
Ratchet nodded, waiting.
"Kestrel and Tagg," Prowl repeated. "They are Optimus's genitors."
Ratchet just sat a moment stunned.
-0-TBC
2013 (3)