The Diego Diaries: Memorial Day (315)
-0-In the hub under Fort Max
They walked to the table and gathered around Ratchet as he uncapped the tube and pulled the tapestry out. Unrolling it on the table, they stared at it, all of the mechs with Ironhide. "That's beautiful, Ratchet. Where did you get it?"
"Full Circle, a Circle of Light and Guild shop off Main," Ratchet replied. "They have them and other beautiful things. I think I want them around the house for the sparklings and for me. We never could have them when I was growing up. We had paper images in the apartment."
Nitro nodded. "We did too. I only saw these in museums or in houses of the high castes."
"You saw them there?" Alloy, a big gunnery master asked with a slight grin.
Nitro smirked and glanced at him. "Of course the owners weren't there at the time."
A general chuckle went around the group. "Did you have one, Ironhide?"
The big bot glanced at Ratchet sheepishly. "We had two. One was an heirloom and the other was one Ada got during a Festival of Primus."
"That's coming up in about 6 decaorns isn't it?" Nitro asked as he touched the beautiful figure of Primus gently.
"It is," Ratchet said. "I'm not sure which festival I like the best, that one or Christmas Surprise."
Everyone nodded agreement. "They're both good," Nitro said, his optics fixed on the image.
They chatted a while, then gathered up to go. Ratchet carried the tapestry tube and Ironhide, Praxus in arms turned to move on to the next hub. Ironhide paused glancing at Nitro. "You coming?"
"I have something to do, Ironhide. I'll catch up," Nitro said with a nod.
Ironhide nodded back and turned walking to the corridor that would lead them to the train station nearby. Nitro watched them go, then headed out the same way. When he got his train Ratchet and Ironhide were already gone. He headed for Terra.
-0-About, here and there
They stood on the train heading for Aerie Hill, Praxus recharging in the comfort of Ironhide's arm. "How is your orn going?"
"First rate," Ironhide said. "We are optimal in munitions, efficiency is tip top and I have Praxus. Can't get much better."
"How is Prowler?" Ratchet asked with a smirk.
"He's talking to himself," Ironhide said patting his carry hold. He grinned. "Little mech is a wonder."
"Takes after his old man," Ratchet said with a grin. The train rolled to a stop, others getting on and off before continuing onward. "What about lunching out as they say in the English novels?"
"My ada is sure into them," Ironhide said with a nod. "I'm up for it."
"Good," Ratchet said as the train slid into Aerie Hill Station #1. They stepped off and walked down the corridor to the hub station where they would shoot the slag with the mechs there before heading off for more stops.
-0-Out there
They flew onward, their group captain deciding that Paragon was the way they would go in terms of realigning with the faction. The stars streaked by as he relaxed in his chair. The power that they brought wasn't insignificant and he was more than determined to carve out a niche of his own in the structure that Paragon would have created. His ships were a force to reckon with.
As he sat thinking ahead he didn't notice the movement behind him. Three ship captains had joined their master on board his ship to discuss this and that, remaining ostensibly to hang with colleagues and friends for a bit. If he had looked he would have seen blasters in the servos of two of them, blasters that were pointed at his helm. He did however feel the steel against his helm when they reached him.
-0-At the armory under Industrial Park #6
They stood in the construction of the facility as overhead the finishing touches were put on the industrial park that would be dedicated exclusively to making Cybertronian steel and its major component, Cybertanium. Given the expected expansion of the city with migrations that were already signaling their presence on the sensor array that could reach 35 light years into space in all directions, the need for steel would always be extreme. Because it was now located in the boondocks from the city, the need to defend it was always also going to be extreme.
"This is coming along," Ironhide said to the big mechs who stood around them explaining the progress of the facility. Praxus who was feeling better sat on his arm looking at them. "ADA!"
"Praxus." Ratchet grinned and looked at the other mechs who were grinning. "He has a big mouthed older brother. Neither of them understand indoor voices."
"Sounds like mine," a big mech said with a chuckle. He tweaked Praxus's nose and the sparkling smiled widely. "Cute paint scheme."
"It's a family joke," Ratchet replied with a big grin. "Little mech just cried out for a medical paint scheme."
They chuckled and chatted, finally resolving all the remaining issues before turning to go. Onward ho.
-0-On Main Street in Terra
Nitro stood across the street looking at the store, then he crossed between traffic. Pausing outside, looking at the wonders within, he finally entered. Looking around, he saw stacks of beautiful things, books and plaques, all of them engraved with their cultural and religious beliefs and ideas. He looked at one, a child's book explaining their beginnings from the Creation until the Fall of Unicron and the Sacrifices of Primus for them.
He held it for a moment considering his daughter, then noticed a sweet faced femme standing near him waiting. He put the book down quickly, shifting from ped to ped. She smiled. "That is a beautiful book for a youngling. I assume you have infants?"
"I do. My daughter is beautiful. She's in the Youngling Day School," he said.
"Then you should give her that book," the femme said with a nod. "It never hurts for the young to know who and what we are."
Nitro nodded. "I want that. She should know who we are and where we came from."
The femme nodded and looked further down the shelf. She picked up a fat volume and held it out. "It doesn't hurt for us to know either."
Nitro took it, the cover engraved with 'The Story of Us'. The pages like almost all books on Mars were paper thin sheets of steel engraved with colorful photographs and other illustrations for the text. The cover was a thicker page with images of Cybertron and archetypal photos of early Cybertronians doing this and that. "This is a great book."
"Both of them will be yours then," she said smiling as she picked up the child's book and gently took the one from his servo. She glanced at the tapestries which he had paused to stare at when he entered. "I see that you admired the tapestries."
"I did. I do," he said looking at her a moment. "I ..."
She waited accustomed to revelation from the big mechs and how it sometimes took time. She nodded sympathetically.
"I used to see them in the museums. I also saw them in the high caste houses on the out country estates."
She nodded and waited.
"I was breaking into the houses," Nitro said with a bit of shamefaced regret. "I thought they were beautiful when I saw them."
"They are." She looked at him a moment. "That was then, in a different time and place. We were all something different there in those circumstances. It is what we are now that matters."
He looked at her for a moment, then nodded barely perceptively. "Maybe you're right."
"Which one is your favorite?" she asked with a smile.
"I like the green one," he said pointing to the tapestry with shades of green in metallic tones. It was beautiful.
"Then its yours," she said. She walked to the table nearby and laid down the books. She walked to the wall taking down the shimmering green tapestry. She worked at the table packaging up the items and turned handing them to Nitro. "There you do. They were always intended to go home with you."
He looked at her and nodded. "I forgot how that worked," he said with a slight grin. "Thank you for this. They will all have places of honor in my apartment. My daughter will read both of them. I'll help her."
The femme nodded. "That makes me happy."
Nitro looked at the gifts in his servos and nodded, a smile on his face. Turning, he walked to the door and out into the world once more. She watched him go, then turned with a smile. Picking up a red tapestry, she hung it up in the empty space then turned to return to the loom where she was making another.
-0-Lunchtime
They walked along the street to The Pit Stop Cafe on Cultural Center Road near the airport. Getting a table by the window, they settled in. Putting Praxus on the table, they sat grinning at him. He felt better so he grinned back.
"What a good looking sparkling, Ironhide. Impeccable paint scheme if I say so myself," Ratchet said sitting back to relax.
Ironhide snorted. "You're certifiable," he said as he handed a spoon to his son. Praxus took it and smiled, pounding on his ped with it happily.
"He's as nutty as his brother," Ratchet said watching the baby. "I don't get what they get out of that."
"I'll ask them when they're old enough," Ironhide said with a grin.
The waiter came and they ordered 'the usual', ie, Ironhide's 'cheese burger, onion rings and high grade' as well as Ratchet's 'Reuben sandwich', awesome 'pickles' and 'milkshake'. An onion ring for Praxus would be sufficient for his little belly. The waiter hurried off to get it going. The place began to fill up including among the fly boys and mechanics lawyers from the Courthouse nearby and their support personnel. It was lively and happy in the big cafe.
"Well, what do you want to do about Scouts now that football is winding down?" Ratchet asked with a smile.
A SEVERELY hostile gimlet optic met that remark. "Shh!"
"Why, Ironhide. Don't tell me that you're wimping out on me, you little femme. It's not like you have to do this alone. Prowl is your second-in-command by order of the Prime." Ratchet leaned forward with a smirk. "He told me he hopes that both you and Prime have forgotten that."
"Frag that," Ironhide said grinning in spite of himself. "That slagger is going to be there too. By the way, what do we do or do you even give a frag? You get me into this slag and then you disappear. What the frag kind of bond are you, you slagger?"
"Why, Ironhide," Ratchet said sitting back with fake umbrage. "I actually covered your aft during football. I organized the mechs who did all the work. You just got to stand around sucking up the glory and answering a question or two. Tell me if you ever appeared on the news and in the newspapers as much before footie?"
"Frag that, Ratchet," Ironhide said with a smirk. "Your slag isn't going to make this better."
"Aw," Ratchet said pouting comically. "Did you get your prong caught in your zipper?"
A pause for clarification and a wince that could be felt in Nebraska preceded a caustic optic leered at a smirking bond mate. "You are demented."
Ratchet leaned in and grinned. "You knew that going in, slagger."
"True, that," Ironhide said with a grin. "You are a wily old slagger."
"I know. It's part of my great allure," Ratchet said sitting back to preen.
"Is that what it is?" Ironhide began before the appearance of the twins cut him off from further slag. They paused, then made a beeline pulling out chairs to sit. Sunstreaker took Praxus and hugged him. "What is Praxus doing out of school?" he asked.
"He fell on his bean," Ratchet said. "He has a processor ache and the big idea he should come with us."
"Oh," Sunstreaker said kissing the infant who settled against his shoulder venting a contented sigh. "What's in the tube?"
"A tapestry from Full Circle in Terra," Ratchet said.
"I like that place. They have a lot of relics and things. We have small tapestries for the girls and Kaon. We hung them on the walls over their beds."
"That's where this one is going," Ratchet said. "Proper place for a work of art like this."
Sunstreaker nodded. "There's something going on in space."
"What?" Ironhide asked.
"A 'Con battle group in this area is diverting toward us," Sideswipe said.
"They were heading toward Paragon but now they're coming toward us," Sunstreaker said.
Ironhide paused to contact Ops Center. :Prowler, what's going on?:
:We have a group maybe heading this way. They changed course from Paragon's fortress and seem to be on course to come here. We're sending out a force to meet them when they get close enough. You are on standby just so you know:
:Thanks. I will be by later. We're at The Pit Stop with the twins having lunch. Can you get away? Onion rings:
There was a pause. :I can be there in a minute. We have time until they get here. On my way:
Ironhide grinned. "Prowl is coming."
"Onion rings?" Ratchet asked with a smirk.
"Bingo," Ironhide said.
-0-Moments later
Prowl entered, Optimus in tow. They pulled up another table and sat, Praxus making the rounds until he ended up with Granny. Orders were made and onion rings stolen as Ironhide and Ratchet received their orders.
"These are addictive," Prowl said offering a bite to Praxus who took it.
"I figured you would come. Wave an onion ring in front of him, Optimus and he'll do anything," Ratchet said. "Including being the second-in-command to the Scout Master of Mars himself."
Two sets of malevolent optics bordering on lethal levels of gimlet looked at Ratchet. Prime on the other hand grinned. "I had forgotten."
"Thanks, slagger." -Prowl and Ironhide
"You're welcome." -Ratchet
"ADA!"
They all looked at Praxus who was sitting in Prowl's arms. He looked at them looking at him and forgot his train of thought. He clapped his servos and smiled ginormously. Prowl grinned. "Come live with me. Your ada is a slagger."
"OWL." He grinned at Prowl. Prowl grinned at him. He got another bite of onion ring.
"Tell me about the newcomers," Ironhide said taking a bite of his burger.
"It would appear that there is a rebellion going on aboard that group. It would also appear that the signal drift that we have going on is working," Optimus said. "I have also authorized leaking the story of my life."
Ratchet snorted. "I can't wait for that. I think IntraComm is wasting a bet not making that a movie. You and Springer overseeing a demented family. Kup alone is worth the price of admission. A winner in every way possible. Award winning."
"You like to revel in that don't you?" Prowl asked with a smirk of his own. "You're hopeless."
"Actually, Prowler, I'm well balanced. I get my delusions out," Ratchet said.
"Well, some of us have a reputation to maintain," Prowl sniffed. The abuse that got was deserved.
Meals arrived and they busied themselves a moment eating. Around them bots came and went, their happy chatter, laughter and occasional disagreement texturizing the moment into something deeply Cybertronian. If the décor was different, it could have been any place on Cybertron at meal time. That it was on an organic world with influences of an organic species nearby was of little consequence. The Cybertronian need to be a unit, to be a town, a people was the most striking feature of the moment and the city beyond.
It felt like home.
-0-At the prison
Burris stood by the bars. He had finished a meeting with his lawyers. He had been indicted for slavery, abuse of authority, assault and battery, violation of several Cybertronian laws including those regulating space ventures and would be held over for trial. He had sat shocked out of his processor as the news was laid out before him.
It was beyond his ability to think that anything he had done was wrong.
Apparently the thirty mechs in his hold had been interviewed and they had alleged crimes against him that weren't even on the books. On Cybertron, he had run vast industries including mining as well as manufacturing of steel and other heavy metals. Mechs and femmes had been hurt, some even dying. It wasn't his fault. He was just the owner. Managers ran the show, not him. He didn't even go to the sites themselves. This could not be against the law, he thought. It had happened on Cybertron and no one cared.
Why now?
Why here?
He could barely process all of it. Beyond the fence, the city glittered, all manner of things going on that he could not participate in. He could not be with his family, make a place for himself and offer his expertise. It was a stunning development. He would stand by the bars for a long time trying to understand what had happened. Then he would appeal to the Prime himself.
It was his right.
That he expected for himself what he never gave others never entered his processor once.
-0-Paragon
"What are they doing?" Paragon asked. "Have you communicated with them?"
"I have," his communications officer asked. "They have ignored all of our messages since the first one with their fleet captain."
Paragon looked at his sensor officer. "Track their path."
He nodded and complied. Looking back, he answered. "They are heading for Autobot City, sir."
Paragon looked at the screen before him and frowned. "Frag," he said quietly.
-0-Out there
A new group captain sat in the command throne. The old one was in the brig cooling his heels. They had come to a meeting of the minds, the three ship captains. Go to Paragon and take their chances or go to Prime and see what the city they saw in the leaked images had to offer. Football or a forward base? A city with literally millions living there or an army camp living rough? It was an easy choice for most of them.
The officers weren't giving up anything. They were prepared to leave and seek out alternatives among the players but if they could live in a city like Prime's, it was a great improvement over the eternal drifting that they had undertaken so far. They would speak to Prime, figure out the limitations, then decide. They were aware that staying there would require stepping down from leadership, arms and predation because Prime would neuter them as his price. Whether they would or could do that was still in flux. They knew they were tired of roaming but they weren't tired of being Decepticons.
Most of them.
It would be interesting.
They continued into the darkness heading for a set of signals that were profound in their dissonance. They headed toward a solar system where Prime and Starscream were allies.
It would take a while for that to feel anything but astounding for all of them.
-0-The Pit Stop
Bluestreak entered walking to the table where Sideswipe pulled him into his home-away-from-home, his lap. He grinned. "Onion rings I see," he said glancing at Prowl.
"Want some?" Prowl asked as Bluestreak took one anyway. "I sure failed with you. Or maybe hanging out with you two has eroded your manners, Bluestreak."
"Be lucky we took him off your servos," Sunstreaker said with a grin.
Abuse and laughter met that along with a slap on the back of the helm by the aforementioned ring thief. "You're so lucky to have me," Blue said. He looked at Ironhide. "I want your sparkling, Ironhide."
Ironhide looked at Bluestreak with a comical frown. "You are as bad as your atar," Ironhide said as he reluctantly slid a recharging tiny winger from his hold. Bluestreak took the baby and kissed him. "Your atar is a big crybaby."
A little blue optic opened slightly to look at Bluestreak, then closed. Blue grinned and glanced at Ironhide. "Even your sparkling agrees."
"That sparkling is a true blue sparkling. He could no more be a traitor than Ratchet can fly," Ironhide said with a big grin.
A slap to the back of the helm greeted that remark. "You're fragging lucky I put up with you, Ironhide."
"Look at the marital discord," Sideswipe said with a smile. "No wonder the two of us are so rotten."
"Speak for yourself, Sideswipe," Sunstreaker said grinning at Ratchet.
"You two hit the mother lode when you got us. By the way, I'm drafting you into the Autobot Scouts, all three of you," Ratchet said to the everlasting spark wrenching angst and all around ennui of the Scout Master and his S.I.C. sitting at the same table.
"That's right. I had forgotten that. Mostly," Optimus said pausing mid bite in his burrito. "When does that start by the way? I want to tell the little mechs."
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Prowl said looking at Optimus with alarm. "We'll get on it. Trust me."
"Yeah, Optimus. Trust him. The cheating slagger. Cheater, sparkling thief, all around low balling double dealing slagger," Ratchet said with a giant grin.
Prowl looked at Ratchet with a grim expression. "You slagger. You did this on purpose."
"You better believe it, *Prowler*. How does it feel?" Ratchet asked with a smile.
"Watch your backside, Ratchet," Prowl said grinning in spite of himself. "Praxus is still going to win and that will carry me through my hour of need."
"Traitor," Sunstreaker said looking at his in-law.
"Some things transcend family, Sunny," Prowl said sitting back smugly, Praxus drowsing against his armor.
"Football?" Sideswipe asked with a snicker.
"Football," Prowl said with a grin and look of triumph which he shot to Ratchet postage free.
"I will console myself, Prowler knowing as I sit in my apartment all content and clean that you are sitting in the dirt trying to make fire with 1,000 little mechs and femmes watching."
Ratchet grinned.
Prowl didn't.
-0-TBC
05-27-13