The Diego Diaries: Dance (317)
-0-Opts Center, Autobot City, Mars
"Ratchet..."
"What?"
"It may seem like a small point but don't you have the … dare I say, relationships … in this little … side show wrong?"
"Prowl … you aren't looking at the big picture."
"Oh please … do tell."
Ratchet smirked at his bestie and glanced at Optimus who sat pretending to read a datapad as he waited to approve the next few texts. "Tell Prowl to have faith."
"Have faith, Prowl," Optimus replied with a smirk.
"You are out of your processor. Sir." Prowl sat back and folded his arms over his chassis, his optics falling on Prowler who was recharging on the table on a soft blanket. He snagged the sparkling, grinning with triumph over the baby at a suddenly peeved Ironhide. "Get over it, Ironhide. Ratchet's writing my mech into a story of dysfunction and this is the least you can do in return."
"You are such a little femme. By the way, you will be in the story too," Ratchet said glancing up at Prowl with a smile.
Prowl's expression changed so fast Prime almost felt he had to look at the floor to find his nose. He leaned toward Ratchet to peer at the texts but Ratchet leaned away. "Back. You will see what I'm writing in a moment."
They all did. Prime passed on it and away it went into the ether.
-0-Paragon's quarters, out there
The alarm went off signaling more personal messages from among the principals of Autobot City. He nudged Arrow who had come home to recharge with his lover. :More fun:
The big Seeker rolled over and looked at Paragon. He grinned as they both accessed the file together.
"Optimus, I am going to be really late. We're tracking a bootlegger. Tell your family that I'm sorry but I'll make it up.-Springer"
"I'll tell them, Springer but expect to catch the Pit. You know what Ada thinks about missing events and slag. -O"
"Can't be helped.-S"
"Bootlegging is outlawed there?" Arrow asked with surprise. "Half the army would be in jail if that were so."
Paragon grinned and nodded. "Including you."
There was a time stamp of nearly a joor before another text came through.
"Prowl."
"Sir."
"That's a little formal don't you think? -O"
"Perhaps. But you like it...-P"
"I do. Where are you now?-O"
"At my apartment.-P"
"Meet me tonight in the usual place. Springer is working all night. I have to go to dinner at the genitors but I'll get away when I can. Then we can get together.-O"
"I will be there.-P"
-0-Ops Center, Autobot City, Mars around a table moments earlier
"Let me get this straight. Optimus is bonded to Springer and having an affair with me."
"I had to put you in the story some where, Prowler. Tell me a better scenario?" Ratchet asked.
"I could give you twenty better scenarios. Me, seeing a bonded mech? I don't think so," Prowl said with a sense of outraged moral umbrage.
On the outside.
Inside, he was delighted. TAKE THAT, SPRINGER!
"I can't imagine what Paragon is thinking. What makes you think that he's even going to believe this slag?" Prowl asked as he watched a deeply amused and utterly contented Prime out of the corner of his vision.
"He's thinking, Prowl, that Prime has it going on," Ratchet said with a chuckle as he continued typing away.
"What?" Prowl asked.
"What?" Ratchet asked glancing up at Prowl.
"What does Optimus have going on?" Prowl asked with a slight frown.
"It's an expression. It means he has it going on … all of it." Ratchet grinned at him enjoying his confusion.
"All of what?" Prowl persisted.
"You really need to get out, Prowler," Ratchet said with a chuckle.
/... apparently so do I …/ -Prime and Ironhide
-0-Out there
They sat together relaxing in their quarters as the messages trickled in. Apparently, Springer was a policing officer who had a 'beat' in the city. He was going after the bad mechs and had an overnight shift to work. Prime on the other servo was on call orn and night including as part of that 'call to duty' having an affair with his second-in-command, Prowl.
That had surprised Paragon. "I never bought into the rumors that Prowl came with the Primeship. I was around him before things fell apart and he was very aware of the protocols. I think Prime liked him a great deal but Prowl was circumspect. Apparently we know why. Springer."
Arrow nodded. "I know. Prime's firewalls must be amazing to keep this off Springer's radar. That mech is formidable. The slagger."
Paragon nodded. "This is intriguing. Think of the possibilities."
Arrow nodded.
-0-Ops Center, Autobot City, Mars
They entered the room and sat glancing around. "You called?" Sideswipe asked.
Prime nodded. "There is a ship commander leading the Decepticon group heading this way named Shield. Do you know this mech?"
The twins glanced at each other, then Prime. "We do. That is if he's the same one."
It was silent a moment, then Sunstreaker looked around. "If its him, he's bad news. He ran a gang in Kaon and had contacts in the underworld throughout the region. He's a very bad mech."
"He's a killer, a stone killer but he's also very smart. He's not someone you can trust. Ever," Sideswipe said. "We found ourselves fighting him off a lot. He's like a virus. He creeps in and absorbs things, other gangs and their games. He wanted our territory and we didn't want to give it. His club was on the other side of the Hole from us."
Prime nodded, the mention of the biggest ghetto in Kaon a wincing thing to him. "If this is him, what is your suggestion based on how you know he acts?"
"He will come on calm and easy. He's assessing you when he does," Sideswipe said as Sunstreaker nodded. "But know, you can't trust a word he says. He's patient. He might give you his word but its only a matter of time before he breaks it."
"He'll undermine you," Sunstreaker said to Prime. "He's never going to be second to anyone. But he's willing to wait to gain it no matter how long it takes."
They sat quietly a moment, then Prime nodded. "Well, two can play at that game."
"I hope he promises the Matrix, then gets blown up," Sunstreaker said with a cold expression. "If anyone deserves it, he does."
"You younglings had better write your memoirs. I imagine it will be a bestseller," Ratchet said looking at them with a smirk. "And it would be nice if your old genitors actually knew about your life before you got slagging lucky."
Sideswipe smirked himself. "Not on your life," he said to general abuse and all around snarkiness.
-0-Out there
He sat in the brig of his own ship, his processor burning under the burden of his outrage. Shield had led a rebellion, turning away from Paragon to try his luck with Prime. They had all seen the images that had drifted from Autobot City, images of a vast city filled with amenities and population. They had seen the towers and arenas, the theaters and air field. There were infants and children, literally tens of thousands of individuals who had a varied and event filled life.
They saw the televised programming, all of it censored and edited to present the images they wished but that wasn't known to the intended audience, the Decepticons out there. The Decepticons saw a brilliant city rising up out of the rust colored soil of an organic planet. They saw a bustling city, several in fact filled with life and industriousness. They saw sports. Given the choice of Paragon or the possibility of Prime and his city, there was no choice for them.
However, he saw it differently. Paragon offered less but in the end, there was the chance for more.
Or all of it.
They could have built up a force that could take the Prime. There were others out there looking for opportunities too. If they worked together, they could overthrow Optimus Prime and take over his city. He had seen Metroplex and Fort Max. He was unaware that the Supremes were finding their way home again but had never seen one in a broadcast. Prime didn't allow their images out but he didn't know that. The big Autobots were concerning but not a deal breaker to him. He had faced many obstacles in his career and prevailed. This would just be another intellectual exercise.
That is, it would have been. He was in his own brig and traitors were running the show. He would have to overturn this before it was too late. Paragon was the best route to success. He would do what it took to make the slaggers understand that. Sitting back, he waited patiently for the first opportunity to show itself.
-0-School
Sunspot stood in line, Spot by his side. Behind him were the other three Seekers now attending school full time. They were going to recess before lunch time. They had been told that they would be expanding their schools again, their new one in a new city being constructed nearby. It was exciting.
"Elder Harrier told us that you are taking flying lessons, Sunny," Cardinal said peering around Raptor. "Do you want us to help you?"
"I think that would be fun," Sunspot said with a giant smile. "I am being taught stuff I never learned because I don't remember my genitors."
"We remember ours," Cardinal said with a nod, his face filled with an anxious hopefulness. "We know they're out there and they will hear the call and come back to us."
The other two nodded. "We do," Farrell said firmly. Standing nearby waiting to take them, Terradive listened unobtrusively. He felt a sadness in his spark for the three infants. His own genitors were somewhere too. He had the same hope inside but he was older and more aware of the likelihood that they would never regroup. Moving forward, he turned and smiled. "Ready to go play?"
A cheer rang out, so he turned and they followed him out the door to the elevator and the playground beyond.
-0-Later that orn
"Jazz here. What's on your processor?"
The comm line was lit up like a Christmas tree as the chat portion of *!THE JAZZ AND BLASTER SHOW!* began.
"Jazz, what do you hear about public opinion of us on Earth?"
"We are holdin' very high numbers on Earth among the populations of the signatory nations of the Autubot-Terran treaties. The people there know the value of the alliance. The politicians say and do a lot but they understand our presence is a good thing."
"The bombings are worrying us here. It is disturbing and sad that there are people being hurt over this. We don't know how much suffering the humans can withstand before they decide that we are a liability," the caller said.
"The sad part of this is that the ones doin' this don't love their own kind enough. They're killin' their own people. They're goin' to lose. They can't win in the end. The goal now is getting' these terrorists. We're workin' on that with our allies and we aim to win."
"Thank you, Jazz." The caller hung up and another one came online. The afternoon passed with the broadcast going down to Earth on the MCA.
-0-On Earth
They listened to the show, Jazz and Blaster taking questions during the call in part near the end of their broadcast. Some of their team attended to the media coming from Mars to gather intel. Nothing was not monitored. They were located in France at a chateau rented by their benefactors. They had set up their communication and intelligence gathering capabilities there.
Their side had networked throughout the world and had buried their presence deeply. They had divided their responsibilities. There were those who did the politics and communications, others who did the technical side of warfare and the rest who were the soldiers of the revolution. Many were duty soldiers in armies around the world. Some of them were in places no one could even have imagined.
One of them was even a soldier in N.E.S.T.
-0-TBC
05-29-13