The Diego Diaries: Catastrophe 7: Blow Back/Push Back (350) (Thank you, Guest honey. Ralph/Brenda come later. William/Leigh, the names below them on the list was who Trevor's parents were supposed to be. I fixed it. :D:D:D )
-0-Diego Garcia, on the ground
He came racing in and slammed on the brakes spinning in a 180 degree arc as he came to an abrupt stop. The door of the car opened and she half slid out, her hair all akimbo and her skirt half over her head. She pushed herself back into the seat and adjusted things before stepping out lit like a roman candle. Ratchet who had scanned her stood impassively, his optics filled with merriment and his internal conversation with Jolt equally joyful.
Jolt transformed when she was clear and stood staring down with amusement at the human who had been surprisingly strong. Parts of his anatomy would be sore for a while from the beating he had taken from her while in transit but it had been worthwhile.
:That was fun:
:You are a caution, youngling. You have exceeded expectations. But then, you are that far along the awesome scale: Ratchet said to the beaming youngling soldier who moved to stand next to him. A fatherly regard hit him as the youngling moved closer to Ratchet. He squeezed Jolt's shoulders, then turned his attention to the livid human femme standing before him adjusting her hair and jacket. He placed a pleasant look on his sweet face and waited.
"YOU WILL REGRET THAT! YOU AND THAT FUCKING TOASTER STANDING NEXT TO YOU! I AM THE DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IN CHARGE OF THE ENTIRE AUTOBOT BRIEF! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO DO THIS TO A FULLY ACCREDITED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!?"
Ratchet knelt. He regarded her. "I am the medic who helped dig out the dead. I am the medic who under fire got shot rescuing human soldiers and civilians from a terrible enemy. I am the officer in charge of the refit of this base having been granted that authority not only from MY government but from the base commander and the Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs too. I am the individual who has a son in the custody of the enemy with little prospect that he will be rescued. I am the one who has to suffer fools that have no respect for where they are or what's going on. Three humans are dead here. Maybe that means nothing to you but to us," he said nodding toward Jolt, "that is unacceptable. Instead of being in Alaska helping to find my son, I'm here directing the recovery of this base and taking care of everyone here including traumatized human civilians and soldier colleagues. I am nine million years old. I am older than your species as a sentient entity. I am a bond, a parent, a grandparent, a doctor, a soldier and a diplomat representing a world, government and people that were ancient when your world still had dinosaurs. That is who and what I am, Ms Mearing. The question is … who are you to come here without respect and make things harder than they are?"
She looked at him without emotions, then glanced around. "Who is the senior human here and where can I find them?"
"The 'senior human' was wounded but ambulatory. Before I let you 'find' him I want to tell you I have the authority to brig your sorry aft if you decide to throw your weight around. We are at Defcon 4 and martial law is imposed on this island by your government with total base wide authority granted to me. I don't care if you feel your authority is real or perceived, Ms Mearing, but our base and everyone here is harmed. Do not and I repeat, do not add to it with poor or boorish behavior."
She stared at Ratchet and he stared back, the two seemingly in the midst of a personal duel. "You have my word."
Ratchet nodded. "I hope its worth something but given you are here in the grand tradition of Ted Galloway, you will have to earn respect. The officer in charge is Major Andrew Sewell. He's in the next hangar."
She nodded and with an angry glance at Jolt, she walked that way and disappeared inside.
"Ratchet?"
"What, youngling?" Ratchet asked regarding the young soldier next to him with great fondness.
"What are dinosaurs?"
"I don't know." Ratchet grinned. "Someone told me that they're like Grimlock."
"Oh joy," Jolt said with a grin. "They have them too?"
"Apparently," Ratchet said as he squeezed the youngling's shoulders. "I think they need power at the administration building, youngling."
"On it," he said as he turned with a smile and walked away.
Ratchet on the other servo jacked up his audials and listened into the conversation Mearing was having with Major Sewell. He was ready to swoop in and grapple with her once more if she showed the only side of her that Ratchet had seen so far but it wasn't necessary. She kept her word.
-0-In one of the big common rooms in 'The Hall' as the Guild Hall was known among city denizens
The room was huge and had tables and chairs arranged for meetings, parties and gatherings. A long line of tables stretched along a far wall and they were groaning with dishes, most of them traditional Cybertronian fare. Vin and Joon stood in the doorway with their own dish and two bottles of very good high grade from the much desired and worshiped Stanix regional recipe.
They glanced at each other, then straightened their shoulders walking in to put things down. Hundreds of individuals were there, all of them happily conversing together, some of them reuniting after long separation. They were greeted heartily, some of those meeting long time friends, co-workers and fellow administrators of high rank.
A banner on the wall proclaimed their association, the Iacon Order. They made their way to the table setting their things down and were picked off by their friends to socialize.
-0-Below ground in Interior Alaska
:Runamuck, you cut the first bot free. Runabout, you cut the other one down. When I fire at that big stalactite on the ceiling over Arachnid, you do that and run. Autobots, do you understand?:
Two pings greeted that question so Seizor stood and pretended to stretch. Aftershock, Techtonix and Fracture, the rest of the Tremorcon team sat passively as he did although their minds were going through the moves they needed to accomplish to make it to the door and beyond. The path chosen was one of the three clear of Insecticons, one that led down before it went up again. They would leave this space, run down the tunnel until they came to the first junction. Then the Tremorcons would do what they did best, cave in the structure behind them.
:Sideswipe, are you ready?: Drift asked.
:I was ready orns ago: Sideswipe replied.
The two raised their helms and looked at Arachnid who was still communing with her minions. The tension in the room was enormous, the next move hair trigger moments away from happening as the angst level of the bugs was rising. Then Seizor stood and subbed a big weapon pointing it at a small nearly imperceptible fracture line in a giant stalactite hanging over Arachnid.
When he did, he fired.
-0-At the Hall in Autobot City, Mars
The conversation continued as bots got their food and drink. Some sat at the tables to dine and chat, others stood in groups eating, laughing, joking, catching up. It could have been any informal gathering on Cybertron. He himself had held such dinner groups in Tyger Pax himself. He had done so ignoring the fact that the families of the low castes who served them probably didn't have good food, housing or health care. He didn't care then. He cared desperately now.
Joon glanced from where she stood with friends toward her bond, noting his tension and angst. He was good at masking it but she could see and feel how he felt. He was as loathsomely out of place here as was she. This ship had been burned to bits on the surface of Cybertron, what remained of their caste notions falling away in the desperate escape to nowhere that they could imagine could exist. They had fled in the Diaspora without any idea of where they were going to go.
The insecurity and fear that the majority of their people had lived everyday in the sacred space of Cybertron, they learned in the random uncertain terror of fleeing. Where do you go when there's nowhere that can be safe, secure, hopeful? They found out. It took a long time to find a neutral colony that had been left alone in the chaotic aftermath of The Fall.
They had landed, a ragtag collection of barely functional ships and the locals had taken them in. The colony was home for low, mid and high castes who had learned to live together under a simple unifying ideal.
Everyone mattered equally.
He had been changed and even though he had a way to go, he had become a fundamentally different mech than he was on Cybertron. The road had been laid out before him and he was a seeker trying to find redemption, hope and a better path.
The Circle of Light had a large impact in the population of the colony, their purpose to preserve the ancient culture of their species through learning and pacifism a major part of their lifestyle. He had met Dai Atlas and others who had listened to his halting apologies and accepted that he could transform himself through works of contrition. He had undertaken that with gusto, Joon by his side. By the time the colony had been forced to move he was a member of the Colonial Council, a Circle member granted much respect and someone who was noted for his generosity, kindness and respect for everyone.
He had been totally reborn.
The Circle tattoo on his shoulder, he wore with pride. He had an appointment to add the Autobrand along with Joon when Fenix had become a problem. Putting off doing so, he and Joon agreed to listen and see if the Order posed a threat to the colony. Fenix walked to where he stood and smiled. "I'm glad you and Joon came, Vin. We're very happy to see old friends."
"Thank you," Vin said nodding. "It's good to talk to bots we haven't seen in years." he said truthfully. "Thank you for including us."
"We are trying to rebuild our numbers and voice, Vin. We don't have any profile here. Prime won't allow it."
"The System is outlawed. What do you expect to do about it given that we are so few?" Vin asked curiously. Joon stared into her drink in the hope that her feelings about the topic wouldn't betray her. Fenix didn't notice so intent was he in convincing Vin that their cause wasn't dead even here.
"We want to build our own colony. We have chosen a site 100 miles away near adequate energon deposits. It would be built on a small mesa and would be accessible by shuttles and other flight modes."
"I assume Prime is opposed?" Vin asked.
Fenix frowned. "He is. He won't even entertain the idea. He said that there are security concerns and other considerations that preclude this from happening. We would be an asset, Vin. We would be able to demonstrate the virtues of the past by our own example."
"You have engineers, construction workers and the like among the high castes who will do the labor of building the city then?" Vin asked.
Fenix glanced at him with a slight smirk. "We have the designs and schematics already drawn up. What we would need are workers. We can get them from among the city here. After all, we are 2.5 million strong from the last migration. It will only get bigger with more bodies to do the construction of our colony."
"It would be a colony then. Subject to the Prime or independent?" Vin asked.
"Independent," Fenix said nodding. "We are done with Prime. He has no interest in our needs or ideas. We are excluded from positions of authority and power. At least two and maybe more high castes have been murdered in the city so far. We aren't ready to become victims, Vin. We are prepared to leave this metro area in order to not only save our culture but to protect each other from the capriciousness of the Prime and the revenge of the citizens here."
"I haven't detected anything but welcome so far, Fenix," Vin said as Joon nodded. "I am surprised at this."
"You need to open your optics, Vin," Fenix said. "When you're here longer you will see."
Vin considered that, then nodded. "I can imagine," he said soothingly. "I'm going to pay attention to things then."
Fenix looked relieved and nodded. "You will find the city is getting even with us for their perceptions."
Vin nodded. "What have you found to do now, Fenix?" Vin said changing the subject.
"I am the lawyer for the Patent office."
Vin nodded. "That sounds great. Tell me about it," he said as he steered the younger mech toward the high grade.
-0-Underground
The sound of fire slammed around the room ending the growing murmur of the Insecticons. Everyone froze and looked their way, the expression on Arachnid's face especially startled. Then the ceiling fell on her and her minions as dust filled the room and the light faltered in the vast chamber.
Fracture jumped at Drift and ripped the webbing away, falling back to run for the doorway. Drift spun and pulled Sideswipe free, the pair shooting into the melee nearby randomly. The others flashed past and they followed, night vision and Fracture's running lights allowing enough vision for them to find their way. It was a mad scramble, the dash to make distance between the mob who was still digging out and themselves making subtlety irrelevant.
-0-Above ground
"We have movement down deep," Wheeljack said turning to call out to Prime. The command team walked over to the station Wheeljack and Perceptor were running nearby out of a shuttle. A seismographic device sat on a table, long probes piercing the ground nearby feeding information directly to it. Prime and the others gathered around. "We're getting readings of substantial seismic intensity down deep, Prime," Wheeljack said. Pointing to the screen, he showed the data. "It would appear that structural failure happened here, perhaps induced by gunfire. It could be that Sideswipe and Drift got free and blew down the ceiling to slow the 'Cons down."
Prime nodded. "If there are other Decepticons among the group, they might have decided to cut their loses and end their association with Arachnid. It could be that bot is playing her own hand."
"They would have obeyed her. I had a run in with her and a group of them on Talus V. They obeyed her like they were mindless. They are of a type," Ironhide said nodding.
Prime nodded. "If they are on the run, we will have to rescue Decepticons with them too. The protocol teams never fully relied on one format without adding others too. Arachnid would consider them the enemy now as well. Do we have any kind of understanding over the position of our rescue teams?"
"We have movement all around, Prime. We would have trouble sorting out who is what. I would say that when the Insecticons get themselves unwound, we will be able to track them because of the force of their numbers."
Prime nodded, then turned to Ironhide. "I want Blurr here immediately."
Ironhide nodded and turned rushing off to the shuttle nearby as Prowl watched solemnly. He disappeared inside as Prime turned to Wheeljack and Perceptor. "Get the best picture of what's going on underground and get ready to give it to Blurr. I want him to catch up with our teams and fill them in. We need to make this happen now."
Wheeljack and Perceptor turned and began to work as Prime looked at the big hole. Down in the ground mechs were moving perhaps into real trouble. He had to give them the heads up.
-0-Diego Garcia, Indian Ocean, Earth
Ratchet walked out of the comm hangar and looked around. :BLURR! FRONT AND CENTER!:
The sound of a powerful engine could be heard as a blue concept car rounded a pile of rubble. He raced to Ratchet and skidded to a stop. Transforming, he looked at Ratchet with intensity. "What?"
"We have a vital, vital mission for you and we need your speed and smarts. Get on that shuttle," Ratchet said pointing to where Cosmos was transforming, "and report to Prime. Be good and be fast. Be safe," Ratchet said.
Blurr nodded and turned hurrying to Cosmos. He entered the shuttle and they disappeared into the sky. Ratchet watched a moment considering his son and the fluid situation regarding him. Then he turned and walked back inside to continue to manage the base and the outside forces that would have his helm on a platter.
-0-TBC June 30, 2013 edited
Happy end of June. The Festival of Primus is coming up in a few. It is a July event in this story. It took place a year ago in July. An actual real year. :D
NOTES: Some of the awesomeness that is Jolt: "Jolt has a tendency towards mischief making. Like any prankster, he's pretty impulsive and if trouble rears its head you can bet Jolt is going to try to be in the middle of it. (Though he more often ends behind it, mostly out of focus as luck would turn out.- the movies) Luckily, he's got the fighting ability to make sure his head stays on his shoulders, utilizing electric whips in battle. He loves to act crazy in battle: it disorients and confuses the Decepticons, drawing them in close so he can whip 'em! When Jolt goes too long without expending his built-up electricity, he gains the ability to charge his body with static, shooting lightning everywhere." TFwiki source material.
Jolt was created in the TF universes as a Decepticon. He's always been a Decepticon but for Bayverse. He's also very young as well. He likes comic books. :D :D :D
Blaster has been a broadcaster and had a newscast on Cybertron, on the ABN, Autobot Broadcast news. :D Autobots tended to be militarized civilian patriots while the Decepticons got the fed up military and criminals. Ironhide actually defected from the army to the Autobots in at least one universe. :D
Interesting factoids about Dai Atlas (Dei Atlas – God Map). He was a pacifist who didn't trust Prime because Prime was dedicated to saving Cybertron through war when Atlas felt it was a better idea leaving and making a place elsewhere than continuing a battle where more innocents would die. He rekindled the Knights of Cybertron, founded New Crystal City and returned to battle when his friend, Wing was killed. (He's not a weenie. He's a patriot and will fight if the reason is good. -me) More from the wiki:
"Safe inside Crystal City, Dai Atlas wrestled with his decision as he watched his friends and comrades battle from afar. The death of Wing at the hands of the lead Slaver (who had attacked their colony. Wing transformed Drift from a real dickhead to a hero and Circle/Knight -me) was too much for him to bear and it rekindled his fighting spirit. Dai Atlas raised Crystal City from beneath the sands and led the full compliment of Cybertronians there into battle against their foes. The tide of battle turned quickly with these reinforcements and the citizens of Crystal City soon stood triumphant. Dai Atlas declared that the Circle of Light would no longer hide in secret and that the Knights would go forth (to) allow their message to be heard. He named Drift the latest of the Knights and passed on Wing's great sword to him. (Drift, issue 4)
"Dai Atlas's certain belief in the Knights of Cybertron was one of the reasons Drift used to try and convince others to join him and Rodimus on a quest to find them. Optimus Prime and Prowl remained unconvinced, with Optimus describing Dai Atlas and his Circle of Light as a cult."
Dai Atlas is a remarkable figure worshiped for his ideas and courage by millions.