The Diego Diaries: Down Time (275)
-0-Around, doing their job
He sat at the communications station beginning his shift without much recharge. It was hard to focus after a night of cards, high grade and a possible frag if he could really remember it but he vented a sigh and began. That is when he saw it. "Sir, we have a signal. Bogies crossing the migration trail at top speed."
Flint rose and walked to the communications station leaning over the youngling member of the Home Guard Technology Division who was doing his required duty once every six decaorns at an actual military station. "I see that," he said nodding. Patting the youngling, he turned and looked across the Ops Center to the Officer of the Orn. "Jersey, launch the Seekers. Give them the coordinates. Then patch the comm through here." He turned and walked back to the communications station. "Fort Apache Ops Center to Autobot City Ops Center. Flint requesting Optimus Prime."
"Prime here, Flint."
"Sir, we have bogies across the homeward trail. I have launched war hawks. Requesting more orders," Flint said calmly. The youngling sitting at the communications station glanced up at his commander, a look of expectation and a bit of anxiety on his young face. Flint squeezed his shoulder, then turned to walk to the center table. Sitting, he listened as the youngling put the cross talk from the Seeker flight on line.
"Red One, form up on me."
"Affirmative."
Static filled the room as the flight burst forward from the airfield heading toward the bogies that were fleeing from the hinterlands on one side toward Paragon's fort on the other.
"Prime to Flint. Have you identified them yet?"
"Not yet," he replied. "We are assuming that its Paragon returning home from his jaunt to the battle groups in the scatter field in Sector B."
"Affirmative," Prime replied. He glanced at Prowl who was synthesizing information internally. He had nothing to offer yet so Prime sat back to wait. "Flint, give them orders to smoke their afts but nothing more. We want our flight back in one piece but they need to carry home a few pieces of their own, the price of passage."
"What's up?" Ratchet asked as he ambled in with the preliminary medical report of the migration. He was officially off duty for two more orns but no one was home, Prowler and Hero were hiding below ground some place with their atar and all was well in the city proper for now. Tomorrow, he would observe the surgical team that would transform Prime's genitors from damaged appearing strangers to the loving genitors he had always remembered. He personally assured Optimus he would be there. He sat down and listened to the cross talk.
Behind him walking in with Red Wing and Thundercracker, Starscream joined them. "This is Paragon remaking his crossing. He's probably gotten an agreement with the new Decepticon battle groups. What it might mean is still hard to say but I would have gotten an agreement to build a fortress on the other side and put the migration into a vice if I was him."
Prime nodded. "I am in agreement with you, Starscream. It will amp up the danger to our people who will become pawns."
"We need to make sure that Paragon doesn't hook up with Soundwave. That mech has a fortress out here too and he is playing a weak hand," Thundercracker replied. "He might be willing to strike bargains and play both of us off against each other."
Prime nodded. "I agree. Before I forget, congratulations on your new son. I am very happy for you and your trine."
They nodded with proud grins. "Sky Warp is young and foolish but he has come through. The infant is big and healthy. We hope for his release in three decaorns," Starscream said with a nod.
"I would hope to see him when he does come home," Prime said.
"We shall do that. Any time a hatchling from our family has that much access to the Matrix, it is a good thing."
Thundercracker grinned. "I do recall the short time you had the Matrix, Star. You were happy to give it back to Prime."
Starscream looked at Thundercracker. "I do not recall that."
"We do." -everyone at the table including Prime.
"Well then, it must have met the standards by which I conduct myself. Epic. Astonishing. Memorable."
They all snorted. "You were insufferable," Thundercracker said smirking at his bond. "It made you nice."
"Impossible," Starscream replied smoothly. "I am many things. Nice, not so much."
That got the scorn and agreement that it deserved, then the comm channel crackled again. "Red One, we are in range."
"Red One to Apache One. Permission to make mayhem."
"Make it within the limitations. Come back in one piece." Flint's voice calmly gave the go. The sounds of organizational cross talk among the flight buzzed a moment, then they lit into Paragon's group like bees attacking intruders to their hive.
"GO! TAKE HIM! SHOOT IN SET ONE!"
"I HIT THEM! BRING THE RAIN!"
The sounds of pilots talking to each other, gathering through set patterns and blasting the enemy filled the airways, voices overlapping as everyone in two Autobot Ops Centers sat listening tensely. The sound of Seekers weaving in and out, going forward and falling back was reflected in the conversations which were clipped, cryptic and fast.
-0-At the receiving end
The impact of rockets and gun fire hitting his ships, rocking them grated on Paragon's nerves. They threw out counter measures but they were destroyed by the Seekers as fast as they were encountered. The captains of his two fast light battle cruisers along with his own heavier vessel were cursing over the comm lines as they used every trick they could remember to throw off the pursuit. The problem was, they had never been pursued by Seekers before.
In their darkest sparks, some of them would feel for a moment or two the tiniest sympathy for the Autobots.
-0-Ops Center
They listened to the fighting, then the break off of pursuit. Relaxing a bit, they all looked at Prowl who was concentrating as information poured into him directly from Teletraan III. He finally relaxed himself. "There were three direct hits that made an impact. Two light battle cruisers and one mid-range heavy made up the armada. They were trailing fire and fuel when they crossed the cut off point for pursuit. None of ours took any damage and all are returning to Fort Apache. It was a 'housewarming' he won't forget."
Prime nodded. "Good. I want him to feel the burn every time he steps out. I want him to know that we will bite his aft every time he emerges. I want you, Starscream to begin intel flights to the other side. I want to know if another installation is being built as a staging base for another group. I want to know how big they are, who they might host and if others are making their way there. I agree completely with your assessment. It's what I would do in his place."
Starscream nodded. "I agree. We will get on it now," he said rising. "Patch us into the intel that comes from this and other related operations. The more I know, the more I can do."
"Consider it done," Prowl said making the internal adjustments.
They watched as the big Seekers turned walking out to the rec room and their command center nearby. Prime smirked slightly. "That will never get old."
Ratchet nodded. "You read my mind."
-0-Paragon
They limped into their new home, their ships landing heavily on the surface of their big planetoid-sized base world. Paragon stepped off with a cold expression of anger firmly in place. Waiting for him was Arrow who stood quietly, expertly gauging his partner. He was pissed.
They turned together and walked inside while outside the ships were immediately swarmed by troops armed with tools for repair.
-0-On the other side of the trail
The ship captains sat on the command ship of the largest group. There was a lot on the table as they discussed their new situation. It had been a long journey through charted and uncharted space before they came here following Prime and Starscream's messages as well as one put out by Paragon. It had been enticing, the idea of settling in a sector of space that could provide actual energon. They had made do, making their food, fuel and tools from solar and other energy conversion methods.
They were in an asteroid swarm which would be good hunting grounds for energon since their sensors detected fragments among the debris. There were several large asteroids that would allow for their ships to land and be safely anchored temporarily. When their fuel supply was assured, they would be able to find a larger planetoid fragment to establish a permanent base.
The Prime was settled in an air tight solar system. Paragon was established in his own fortress. He had located Soundwave's established deep space base and there was a second fort for Prime nearby as well. It was a hugely populated area bristling with guns and the prospect of enough energon to retake and restore Cybertron.
Of course they were staying.
They bent their helms together and began to plan their own tightly controlled, deeply defended area of space. It would be supported by energon fragments that when distilled would produce C+ to B- grade fuel and food in unheard of quantities. This far out from the central mother lode inside the system that Prime controlled it was smaller and of lesser quality. But it still was incredibly better than that they had manufactured for themselves for too long.
They would band together and be a partner to Paragon. When Prime fell, then Soundwave, they would retake Cybertron. When that was done, they would cut Paragon into confetti. Until then, they would go along with him. They had learned how to be patient during the exile. Now they would be well fed and armed during the long wait for primacy over their home world and everything else they could take with a gun.
-0-At the home ranch
Ratchet rose and walked to the door exiting the Fortress. He paused at the intersection of Fortress and Metroplex, then turned to walk to the airfield. He crossed the street and continued onward passing row after row of ships ready at the slightest alarm to lift off to protect everyone and everything.
He continued onward passing the masses of migration ships that were still waiting to be stripped, assessed and recycled. All of the ships they were keeping were now housed at Ceres, a new station on the moon of Earth as well as nearby the city north of Aerie Hill. Ambling along, he turned at Prison Road and walked to the Control Center Operational Building, CCOB, that ran the system and housed the guards who worked shifts and took meals there.
Entering, he grinned. "Hi. I haven't been here for a while. I want to know if things are on the up and up."
The on-duty medic nodded. "Hi, Ratchet. It seems okay. We got new prisoners from the jail and brig serving short time and the idiots from the migration are being sorted yet. How is that sparkling?"
They chatted sparklings, then Ratchet took his leave pausing to yarn with a guard who had come around the end. "How are the big wigs?" he asked.
The youngling accessed the meaning, then grinned. "Sour faced," he replied. Ratchet turned and walked with the youngling getting the latest on his grand atar who was a very good card player and all around fun mech to know. When they made their way around the facility heading back, Ratchet could see Sentinel and his cell mates taking the sun on the cell block porch. It was nearly -40 and balmy, the breeze light to the point of negligible.
The big mechs looked at the two as they walked along talking, then Ratchet paused by the bars. "I am here to address any medical issues you may have. If you tell me about them, I will have them tended to."
No one said anything a moment, then Sentinel arose to walk to the bars. He paused staring down at Ratchet who stared back without flinching. "I am bored."
"Can't help that, Sentinel. Anything else?" Ratchet asked.
"What is going to become of this?" he asked sweeping the area with his arm. "Are we going to be stuck here forever or is there a point to this?"
"You have been appointed counsel. You should talk to them," Ratchet replied.
"I have. There is no time line to tell us if we're going to be able to defend ourselves or be let go anytime soon."
"You really think you can just walk out of here, Sentinel?" Ratchet asked with a slight smirk. "After all the slag you did and let happen, you still have dreams of skating?"
Sentinel looked at Ratchet. "You know I can fight. I know how to lead mechs. I was a great soldier and still am. You need soldiers. I'm a soldier."
"So is Megatron," Ratchet said warming up to the banter. Sentinel was calm and collected. From experience, Ratchet knew that he just wanted to talk. He turned and nodded to the youngling. "Why don't you continue onward, youngling."
The youngling hesitated, then looked beyond where they stood. "I'm going to stand over there, Commander. I don't want you to be around him without someone here. You are an ada again. You don't need his slag to bother you right now." With that, he turned to walk to the corner where he stood watching the two of them.
"You're an ada are you?" Sentinel asked.
"Surprise! All of the low castes are breeding like rats," Ratchet said with a smile. "We're going to outnumber you and when we do I wouldn't go to recharge without a gun."
Sentinel smirked in spite of himself. Ratchet was a wily, hard helmed bullshitter. He had always enjoyed sparring with him even as he wanted to punt his ass into orbit around Cybertron. He was a damned fine doctor and a useful asset. That was enough for Sentinel. "I will remember that."
"You do understand what a great and searing disappointment you were for all of us. We believed in you. We trusted you. We thought since the Matrix chose you that you had something good and great in you. That was before Alpha Trion clued us in about place keeper Primes."
"That mech... is he here?" Sentinel asked as he pulled up a chair by the fence to sit. "You don't mind if I sit do you? I like the sunlight from this angle."
"Nope." Ratchet grinned. "He's here. He has an apartment at the Temple."
"I see the dome. Tell me about it." Sentinel laced his digits as he sat back to chat.
Ratchet had funneled the conversation to Prime who had agreed to it. "The Temple was restored by Primus and The One on Festival day. We held the first real formal Festival of Primus here a while back and he graced Prime and the Temple with all the artifacts."
"You have the AllSpark?" Sentinel asked.
"The Flame, Well and AllSpark. We had three priests and just reclaimed another. Did you know that the rest are either dead or working energon mines for Megatron?" Ratchet asked.
Sentinel looked at him a moment, then shook his helm. "No. I did not know that."
"Now you do," Ratchet said nodding. "The Temple is an exact duplicate of the Simfur Temple. It was built by hand on the talents of our great people. Its beautiful, calm and holy. My little ada and atar go there regularly to pray for all the missing and offer thanks for the found."
He nodded. "I would like to go there myself some time. I miss it."
Ratchet knew that he was serious and noted it for Prime. Prime wasn't listening in. Ratchet would report the highlights. Perhaps a visit to the Temple with Prime would do all of them good. It clearly might allow Primus to get a bead on a truly horrendous slagger. "I will tell Prime."
As he said that the heavy treads of another caught their attention. They watched as Ironhide walked toward Ratchet, a tiny femme sitting on his arm wearing a little Hello Kitty hat and booties. She was wrapped in a Hello Kitty blanket and watching everything as he came near. He paused and looked at Sentinel. "You'll talk to anyone, Ratchet."
"I am here to check the medical condition of the inmates," Ratchet said as Decimus and Ratbat walked out to pause beside Sentinel.
"What's going on?" Decimus asked with an imperious air. "What brings you out here?"
"Your medical condition. Do you need anything? A check up? I am here to assess need," Ratchet said taking Hero into his arms. She smiled and looked at them, the smile fading slightly. She leaned into Ratchet and stared at them solemnly. "You wilted the sparkling, Decimus, with your bad energy."
"I can assume that is your daughter?" Decimus asked.
"Yes and if you say one bad word about her those bars will not save you, Decimus," Ironhide said with a look that could peel paint off a brick wall.
Decimus looked at Ironhide, then the infant. "There seem to be a lot of infants in the city."
"Thousands of them," Ratchet said. "More coming every orn. We are regrouping in spite of what you did and didn't do. We will rise again."
The three looked at Ratchet without comment. Then Sentinel shrugged. "We are not against that. We always had Cybertron's best interests in processor whether you agree to that or not."
"You allowed the Clampdown. There is nothing you can say that will convince anyone that you cared about us or Cybertron by that one act alone," Ratchet said. "It was the last straw for our people. Megatron became inevitable because of that action."
"We had to keep order," Decimus said.
"You had to keep everyone down to protect your wealth. You put personal self interest over our entire world and population. Everyone knows that. Too bad you probably never will," Ironhide said. He looked at Ratchet. "We need to go."
Ratchet nodded. He looked at the prisoners. "If you need help or assistance, ask the youngling over there about it," he said nodding to the youngling guard. "He will let us know." With that, he turned and walked to the guard with Ironhide and the three disappeared about the corner.
Decimus, Ratbat and Sentinel watched them go. Then Sentinel looked at the pair. "Next time I'm having a conversation with someone, butt out."
The two looked at him and smirked. "Frag off, Sentinel," Ratbat said. Then they turned and walked back to the barracks once more. Sentinel would stay where he was for a while longer.
-0-TBC
2013 (4)
NOTE: I am getting the makings of another story which I am calling 'What Doesn't Make a Difference Isn't a Difference'. Yeah, strange title. When a story comes to me this hard I have to write it. I am going to do several pieces before posting it. It will be a story I never thought I would be able to write, a Transformers: Prime long form. I will write as much as I can using Prime and related Transformer multi-verse elements, then stop the story. I won't add more until the rest of the world gets to see Season 3 without me spoiling things. It will take a few days to post, but its coming. I can do multiple stories at the same time because I guess I have no life. LOL! Hugs. :D