The Diego Diaries: Shadow Box Returns 12 (255) edited for boo boos :D
-0-Paragon's settlement
They reached the inner sanctum of the resident Decepticon leadership and fell into parking orbits of the planetoid that was roughly the same size as the moon of Earth. A runabout took him and his second, Venom down to the planetside and they landed, walking out into the bright lights of the airfield and fortress.
Paragon stood waiting, his command crew around him including Arrow. When they reached each other Paragon extended his servo. :Welcome:
:Thanks. We need to talk: Hydro said nodding as he gripped the other bot's servo.
Paragon nodded. :Come inside:
They turned and entered the fortress together.
-0-Prime
He watched the ships disappear into the darkness. "Prime to Springer."
"Springer here."
"Come back. Good job."
"On our way," he replied. Turning to the pilot he nodded. "Take us back to the party, Topspin."
That bot smirked and nodded throwing the shuttle into overdrive as he made a tight arc with the other one. The Seekers magnetized to the hull found themselves flattened as the ship blasted off, riding the wave back to the battle group.
-0-Ratchet
The data pouring in was daunting and the need overwhelming. Flashing for a moment on the early days alone, he began to organize his crews around the grid pattern that allowed them to access the entire migration at once with teams assigned to each sector heading directly there.
Ships poured out of the bridges waiting to be tasked. Even repurposed civilian ships from earlier migrations were in the lineup, their helms piloted with both civilian and military individuals. They began to leave heading into the massed lights before them as data continued to direct Ratchet's efforts.
Jessie who stood watching turned to see mechs in horrendous condition begin to arrive at the vessel. The doctors received them and began to work to save their lives. It would be a sobering adventure for her.
-0-Farther away
They were spotted in the darkness slowly making their way, their comm lines barely alive as they struggled to stay awake.
:Alpha, Beta, this is Omega. Acknowledge:
The comm line crackled, then a weak voice replied. :Omega?:
:We are here, Beta. We are here to help you: They slid to a stop on either side of the two behemoths, their crews sliding out to find the ports for refueling. The ships were battered from a long life of transport, lack of proper care, guardianship and war. When they located them, the tankers were moved up as workers linked them. Waving to the pilots as they floated in space, the tankers began the long refueling process. The two ships' systems were so depleted, so needful of fuel that two of the biggest tankers ever devised by Cybertronian technology would only fill them up half way.
It would be enough.
-0-Inside Fort Vengeance
They sat at the command table sipping high grade. Hydro considered the effort expended around him and decided to join up. It was that simple. Paragon had a fuel and food source. They didn't. "Nice place. I like what you've done with it," he said with a smirk.
Paragon smirked back. "Thanks. We try. Tell me about yourself and your journey here."
"You know me. I have worked in battle groups with you. We decided the Cause was flagging so we set out on our own. Seemed the thing to do. As for out there, a lot of troops are looking for leadership. Soundwave's problem is he's political rather than military. He worked his way up the ranks blackmailing and backstabbing. No one really trusts him. I don't know where Shockwave is but neither of them are actually inspiring enough to go out and die for. No one expects Cybertron to revive any time soon and its wandering now."
Paragon nodded noting the new information about Cybertron. "What sorts of battle groups do you see out there and how can we get them?"
"Don't worry about the getting. They hear Prime and Starscream too. They're coming this way to scope it all out. The migrations are a good cover for some and a pointer for others. We decided to come here to see what the frag you could offer that would be better than what we could make or take for ourselves."
"I want to consolidate power here and take over Cybertron there. Seems like a solid plan to revive the Decepticons, get rid of the old leadership and install new."
"With you as the top kick."
Paragon smiled humorously. "I don't mind fighting you for it."
Hydro shrugged, more than aware of Paragon's martial background. "I don't mind serving in a unit where my worth is appreciated. The infighting can begin when there's something to fight over. All I see is a fortress on the edge of nowhere surrounded by strong enemies and endless streams of civilians who get in the way of things."
"Then let me show you around," Paragon said rising.
And he did.
-0-Around the city
The streams of refugees were endless as well as the lines of civilians ready to help them. The system was well in place and functioning with a precision that was unbelievably smooth. Ships set down in the different designated areas offloading passengers, then lifting off for more.
The hospitals were being swamped with patients, some of them field patched and others emergency airlifted. Several of the largest spaces in the city had become receiving centers, the underground trains lifesaving transports. Patients were held in recovery spaces in the Guild Halls, Union Halls and community function areas. Hu An were moving among them, nearly 100 showing up here and there to help. Their quiet energy was soothing to some of the families who hovered over the pallets where their family members or friends lay recovering from injury, starvation and weariness.
On the street, lines of individuals walked following guides who had gathered them in groups from processing freeing their individual civilian helper to go back and start again. Their tags told their story and their destination to housing. They followed, waiting outside towers as some of them went up to be housed, following their guides docilely. When they were settled, usually in tearful astonishment, the guide would come down and the lines would continue onward.
Everywhere they went, organics on segways followed filming everything without a care about censorship. They would sort that out later on. As they went, they were astonished with the cooperation and seemingly docile demeanor of the refugees. They walked along quietly, staring everywhere as they went. They waited patiently on the street as their guides, assuring them they would return quickly took anywhere from one to a dozen individuals upward to their new homes and lives.
The film was amazing.
The Aerialbots at the airfield and satellite sites worked directing the ships landing to their fates. Most would be parted out and smelted. Many of them would be repurposed, giving their next few vorns to other tasks. It was organized and effective as ships were carried off and placed in the open spaces beyond the airfield for assessment when Omega came back. It was his job to do so and the others to carry them off. For now, they would make do.
-0-Bluestreak
He worked at the City Hall managing medical data for Ratchet. The flood of it was astounding but the system was designed to take massive amounts at a time and sort it faster than even an optic could follow. He directed and redirected coded files to their destinations and correlated the sorted information into useful reports.
The City Hall itself was a mass of activity as Blondi ruled her domain with her usual cheerful efficient benevolence. Magnus was in the city inspecting the housing at Terra for sign off. She was running the show, her expertise and winning personality making a difficult thing palatable. Bluestreak sat in Venture's office using his computers as the circus continued to roll on.
Venture himself was running data at the airfield near Aerie Hill as the most devastated cases continued to arrive. Among them would be the elders, infants, sparked mechs and the wounded of the Seeker migration.
-0-The Seeker Migration
They lay on the ground too tired to move. Their families were receiving treatment and they begged off in favor of the others first. By the time they received treatment many of the worst cases were gone through the bridge. It would take half an orn but by the time 100,000 of the refugees were rescued, the Seekers would all be through the gate to safety.
-0-Starscream
They came around to head for the coordinates that Hydro had thrown out almost as an afterthought. He had made a break to run for Paragon. It had taken everything Starscream had not to follow and slag Hydro personally. Instead, they headed for the five Seekers who had been their prisoner. He sat fuming silently, seeking memories among the few he had from those orns of the battle group commander. He had almost nothing.
"Star, we have them," Thundercracker said glancing over his shoulder.
"On screen," Starscream said leaning forward slightly.
A monitor flashed on and five Seekers were seen floating in space. They were lifeless appearing and helpless. Starscream looked at the ship pilot. "Scan them. Look for traps and scams as well as life."
The pilot nodded and complied. "They are alive and they are mined."
"Frag," Starscream said. He looked at Thundercracker. "Have the saboteur report."
Thundercracker nodded and paused, then looked at the younglings. "This Hydro is mine."
"You hold him. I will eviscerate him," Starscream hissed.
The hatch opened and a big mech entered pausing before the two. "You called for me, Lord Starscream?"
Starscream nodded. "Our younglings are mined. Their vitals are faint. I don't know if they are simple devices or even if they are proximity. We need your expertise."
He nodded and turned looking at the images. "I would like to have sensors redirected to this computer. I will need to approach this carefully. If I can find the correct frequency, I can scan without causing an explosion by doing so."
Starscream nodded. "Make it so, pilot."
The pilot complied. The big saboteur worked a while, considered this and that, then turned to Starscream. "There are no proximity devices. They must have not had a lot of time because although they carry devices, they appear to be simpler than I would have expected. They were cast off and mined with grenades. If you touch them without disarming the devices, they will blow up."
"Can you untangle this?" Starscream asked.
He nodded. "I can. I don't detect any further hindrance beyond the grenades attached to them."
"Do it. Take who you need and what you require. Hurry," Starscream said. "I don't think they are in a good way themselves."
The big mech nodded walking to the door to jump out for transformation. He flew away toward the younglings and paused when he arrived flying slowly around them in root mode as he studied the devices and their detonators. It would take half a joor before he was satisfied they were simple enough to disarm. Then he would.
-0-Mikaela
She stood in the corner of the hallway in City Hall watching as the machinery of civic life rolled onward. The mechs and femmes were cordial, nodding and pausing as she weaved her way inside the inner sanctum of Autobot City's central community nexus. Finding a corner, parking back out of anyone's footpath, she stood and watched the mechs and femmes she would come to know well, listening to their conversations and discussions on the translation line all humans had for their languages.
The flood was coming in fast and furious. Over 100,000 mechs and femmes had been gathered in so far. Of that many, ten were in detention as 'questionable characters' in the prison nearby. She would have to find that place and learn about it as well. The hospitals were groaning with patients but Ratchet wasn't here. He was in space running the show. It was a far cry from the past, she knew. She had never severed her ties to the city and the mechs she knew, especially Jazz even if she had done so with Sam.
That individual had been uncomfortable around her, his 'playah' ways finally getting the best of him. They had come together in high school, being exclusive even though his college days. Going to community college for night classes in Communications and Technology wasn't on the par of his ivy league affiliations but they had kept the faith even as they sort of drifted apart a bit.
When he had graduated, there was a period of time in which Sam was unemployable, the lingering effect of Autobot association. Cybertronian technology had made obsolete a lot of what passed for cutting edge tech on Earth and he had borne a bit of the brunt for it from the 'Masters of the Universe' who ran the corporate octopus. Warren Roberts hiring him to work on the business end of the Autobot brief he carried had saved him.
It had also allowed him to meet Carly.
They had begun a relationship behind Mikaela's back apparently based on Sam's weak spine and Carly's long legs. By the time Mikaela's unerring radar picked up on it, they were splitsville. Sam groveled a long time which was pleasing but she had decided to exact the best sort of revenge. Not only would she look good, she would do it on Mars. Applying for every New York public relations firm she could and allowing for her background to be a draw, she was hired by the biggest and most far sighted one in the city. She managed to meet with Warren Roberts who putting her checkered relationship with Sam aside, decided that she was the best most qualified person to live on Mars and manage their public relations. He had told her that they were reviewing contracts with outside agencies in three months. If they didn't renew the contract of the company she was working for, they would renew her and make her the spokesperson and public relations and communications director for Autobot Nation.
She jumped.
Sam on the other hand continued his relationship with Carly.
And began one with Jessie Landon.
Typical boy stuff catching up on all the fun he missed in high school while being exclusive with Mikaela.
It was going to be interesting.
-0-TBC
2013 (3)