The Diego Diaries: Newbies 15 (338)
-0-Ops Center, Autobot City, Mars towards morning
The lights indicated movement of questionable origin and they watched it with interest. The lights had left Europe and made their way to America over the North Pole. They had moved with great speed indicating a level of technology that should have been unknown among the humans who lived there. Bumblebee working his shift at Teletraan III turned and called out to Compass, a former Decepticon who was shift manager for graveyard. "Compass, come here and look at this."
The big 'Con walked to Teletraan and watched as the lights winked out over Alaska. "That's not good. They're going too fast."
"There aren't supposed to be any 'Cons here," Bee said with a shrug. "We better let Optimus know."
Compass nodded, then tapped a comm line toggle. "Compass to Prime."
A pause, then answer. "Prime here."
"Sir, we have bogies over the pole."
"On my way," Prime replied, then the line was cut.
-0-Around the city
Ironhide walked from his tower toward the Fortress meeting up with Drift and Springer who were on their way as well. They made their way to Ops Center and entered noting the number of bots gathered around Prowl and Prime. Pausing beside them, they listened. Prime looked at them and nodded. "We have Decepticon signals on Earth."
Ironhide blinked. "How?"
"We aren't sure. We found them originating in Europe around Naples, Italy and they disappear in the middle of Alaska in North America." Prime pointed at a roll up map that showed a line crossing the North Pole and disappearing into the wilderness of Interior Alaska. "We are unclear on how many as well as how they have masked their signal. It would appear that they live underground and use the Earth to hide their signatures. Or at the worst, they found a way to do so with technology."
"It makes you wonder how long they have been here," Ironhide said nodding.
"They might have come with Sentinel and they might have come with Megatron. It would be possible they traveled together," Prowl posed. "I will pose the question to Sentinel."
Optimus glanced at him. "Have Ratchet do it. I expect he can spar without the excess baggage you might encounter," he said glancing back at his team. "Whatever it is, we have to go after them," Optimus said grimly. He turned and looked at a monitor nearby. "General, we will be coming to Earth to begin a search on the ground. We will pick up the soldiers at Diego."
Morshower nodded equally grimly. "I will go to the Pentagon Command Center and link up with you there. I have already put the special ops on alert."
"Thank you, Glenn. We are on our way," Optimus said. He turned to the mechs gathered around and they all turned walking to the doorway and the airfield beyond. They would be in Diego Garcia in 45 minutes.
-0-At the air field
They gathered in front of two battle shuttles, the smaller ships less obvious on the satellite grids of humankind. Optimus stood with Prowl going over protocols for the mission as the twins skated up. They joined Kup, Springer, Drift, Ironhide, First Aide for medical and Devcon for technical expertise. He paused beside Kup and grinned. "Looks like you need a tracker."
"Couldn't hurt. Gotta hold to military protocol though," Kup said with a nod.
"Won't be hard," Devcon said as Prime turned toward the group.
"We have sign in the interior of Alaska of Decepticon presence. They appear to either have unknown shielding or they shield underground. Either way, we have to get them," he said. "Let's roll."
They divided and turned walking up the ramps to the shuttles which then retracted and disappeared as hatches closed. The shuttles were cleared and lifted off priority one disappearing into the darkness of space as the sun began to rise in the sky. Sitting at Teletraan III, Bumblebee kept up a quiet internal conversation with First Aid as they headed swiftly toward Earth.
-0-In a northern clime
They stood in the daylight of night time as the sun which never set in the spring and summer of Alaska lived up to its legend. The sunlight didn't diminish here until late in the summer when the fall began its inevitable march forward toward winter. One could read a book clearly at midnight as well as noon. It was as flat as the optic could see, broken here and there with caribou who summered in great numbers and the occasional bear or moose. In the far distance, the majestic peak of North America's largest mountain, McKinley or Denali as it was called by Alaskans could be see with its enormous white mass and cloud covered peak.
The Alaska Range formed its companions as to the southeast, the Wrangells could be seen. It was nearly 90 degrees and insects buzzed around them annoyingly. One of them swatted a swarm that settled on his arm. "Sickening insects. This whole planet is sickening."
"They're mosquitoes. They cannot harm you. Quite whining," another said as they looked around. "The Autobots will have seen us. We have to move," he said glancing at the others.
She nodded. "I know. Let's go," she said as she transformed. With a fury of movement, she began to dig and they watched as she disappeared into the cold hard earth.
"This soil is permanently frozen. It will be hard going," one of them said as he shook his helm doubtfully.
"We have to go. We need a presence in all of the major locations. We can follow her and we better do it swiftly. Even the humans will be able to detect our transit over their pole," another said as he stepped into the hole and fell from sight. The others followed one after the other as the area grew quiet again.
Nearby, a marmot hunting prey came to the hole and sniffed. It stared into the dark for a moment, then turned away. In seconds it too was gone.
-0-Diego
Lennox, Epps, Graham and five handpicked soldiers were standing on the tarmac gear in hand waiting for the ships from Autobot City. There were four newbies to the Striker team with them as a number of alpha team members were on leave. Rather than pick them up, they drew the best of the best of the newest members to blood them in the field. John Fulton stood with Lennox and his team telling them of the intell that was known as of yet.
"That is about it," he said summing it up. "We need intell and we need you back in one piece." He looked at the four newbies. "Remember, you are back up unless told otherwise. The big bots will let you know and you will follow their orders and that of your team leaders," he said nodding at the three senior members. "The troops coming are Prime, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Kup, Drift, Springer and a new bot, Devcon. Devcon is a bounty hunter and Autobot who can track bad guys across vapor. Follow procedures and don't be a hero. This is the real thing."
They nodded and everyone turned as the sound of big ships descending from the atmosphere caught their attention. Two heavily armed battle shuttles, deadly looking mechanisms brilliantly white bearing a huge Autobrand came down to settle on their gear. The door to one opened and Prime stepped out walking toward the group waiting. He met them and knelt. "Colonel, gentlemen," he said in his deep cultured voice. "Are you ready to go?"
"We are," Will said nodding. "Anything new?"
"They disappeared off the radar over the interior of Alaska. We don't know for sure how but we are headed there. Be aware that the sun doesn't set there this time of year so you will be visible targets and easy shots." Prime rose up to his full height.
The newbies looked up getting a taste of what it meant to be a human in the company of Cybertronians. It was daunting and it showed on their faces. Then they gathered themselves and picked up their kit and guns. Glancing at Lennox, he nodded and they began to walk to the shuttles, Epps and Figueroa giving them their assignments. Prime watched them go, then looked at Fulton who looked aggravated. "John?" Prime asked.
Fulton looked up at Optimus. "Why the hell now, Optimus, when we have a game in two days?"
Optimus Prime nodded with a grin. "Because they're Decepticons. They can't help themselves."
They chuckled and grinned as the remainder of the team followed Prime to his shuttle. Boarding, the hatches closed and they began to lift off. Rising up swiftly, they began to fall away into the darkness of the upper atmosphere.
-0-Miles away
They paused in a cavern resting from the ordeal of digging in the hard soil. The cavern wasn't big but it was adequate as she relaxed a moment. She could dig for days if necessary making tunnels all over the place, tunnels that served and others that deceived. This would take more effort and longer but she was doing what she liked to do ... making her pursuers earn it. "We should press on, boys," she said in her languid voice. "Prime will be coming shortly. Since you insisted on moving out, we can't dally now can we?"
They looked at her with a shrug and rose. "After you or as the humans say ... ladies first," one of them said with a smirk and cold optics.
"That's right," she replied. "Ladies first." She transformed and began to bore, disappeared almost immediately. They stood together letting her get a lead on them.
"I don't trust her," one of them said to the other.
"You can't," the other said in reply. "Just remember that." Then without a backward glance, he stepped into the tunnel and followed. The other did too and soon it was as silent as it was before they came through.
-0-On the way
They were cleared through NORAD, the North American Air Defense Command that not only covered this part of Earth for intruders but tracked Santa Claus for children at Christmas time. They had triangulated the progress of the bogies from Europe to Alaska when they left the skies of Scotland on their pole transiting journey from Italy. It was a fast furious run, then they set down and disappeared. All of the information went to the Pentagon and the Command Center where Glenn Morshower now waited.
The screens around him showed the progress of the principles, the 'Cons who were now gone and the two battle shuttles on their way. They were on the descent, heading for the last set of coordinates of the bogies in the middle of the vast wilderness of the Last Frontier, Alaska.
He himself had been there as a younger man taking part in the arctic training that was held to pit troops against the incredibly unforgiving features of an Alaskan winter. Temperatures ranged from -45 to -80 degrees Fahrenheit or -24 to -54 degrees Celsius when the wind blew and he thought he would never survive the training. That he had was a testament to his tenacity. Now it was unseasonably hot, pushing 90 degrees and the mosquitoes ... the 'Alaskan state bird ... would be out in unholy clouds of menace. Add that the 'Cons had to have gone to ground and you had the source of his heartburn. It would be a miracle to find them.
"Prime to Command Central."
"Morshower here."
"We are coming in for a landing. There appears to be a big hole in the ground near a creek bed that indicates they are tunneling." Prime's calm dignified voice came over the intercoms. Everyone in the room was used to hearing it as the alpha team was on duty when the call came.
"I would approach with extreme caution. Will you be going after them?" Morshower asked.
"It is not clear yet. I cannot go but others on our team are more capable of fitting the tunnel's size," Prime replied.
"We are on standby," Morshower answered.
"Understood," Prime's voice replied. It was then that the audio was opened up to the Command Center at the Pentagon, the Ops Center at Diego Garcia, both human and bot and the Ops Center on Mars. Only Mars would get the visual feed as per protocol.
-0-Prowl
He sat at the main table watching the visual feed from Optimus as he managed the influx of dozens of different data streams internally. He had half a dozen plans formulating and other ideas coming into focus as well. As data was determined, the constructs shifted. He would be online with Optimus and the others for the duration.
-0-Alaska
The ships settled and the ramps came down. Hatches popped and the teams began to come down. Clouds of mosquitoes so black they looked like undulating blobs descended and the griping began. The bots looked at them with disdain, then First Aid pulsed an electromagnetic charge. The insect clouds fell to the ground dead. He looked at them, then his expression turned to one of great distress. "I didn't mean to do that. I just wanted them to go."
The soldiers staring at the carpet of dead bugs looked up at him. "You are my new hero," Niall Graham said. "Those are disastrous to our well being, First Aid. Thank you."
He looked at Graham, then nodded tepidly. "Okay," he said with concern.
They grinned, then moved to gather around Prime. He was scanning the area as Devcon stepped out looking at the tracks that had tramped the delicate surface of the tundra. "We have a number of 'Cons, Optimus. The trail goes that way," he said nodding toward a creek bed that ran nearby. "I think that's where the hole begins."
Prime nodded. "Let's take a look."
Devcon nodded and turned, weapon in servo. The rest followed. When they got to the hole, they looked downward into a very dark pit. It looked forbidding. All of them looked toward Prime.
-0-TBC June 20, 2013 edited