Diego Diaries: Footbawl! 2 (399) edited
-0-At the stadium
Prime walked in, the cameras at last following him for all everywhere to see everywhere. The stadium was roaring, the crowds stamping their peds Cybertronian style while banners and pom-poms, scarves and other team paraphernalia filled the air with color and motion. The scene broadcast cut to the other two sites and school stadium where the same thing was happening. Nearly everyone in the colony who was ambulatory was at one of the four locations.
Prime walked up the steps as the music played and people sang, then reached it stepping to his seat as he took his son from Prowl. Holding the tiny version of himself, he was front and center on every television tuned in everywhere.
"He has a son," Arrow said to Paragon as they sat in their main lounge with others to watch.
"He does. Interesting," Paragon said nodding his helm.
-0-Out there
Rust sat in his throne, the forward view screen filled with the images of Cybertronian life. A football championship was being counted down and it gave him pause. They had magnificent infrastructure as well as the leisure, resources and security to hold games on this scale. It was unnerving. This was going to be way more interesting than he thought. Rather than rove, he made up his mind to find a place to dig in. As he considered that, another pirate group in the sector was pausing in their efforts to fort up on a small planetary fragment to watch as well.
That didn't count Cyclonus and Soundwave who was at his fort to oversee something and found out that transmissions could be had from a 'faulty' secured line every now and again this far out. He sat flabbergasted and a bit anxious as the Prime walked to his seat in a vast stadium. That he had a son was astonishing too. The self denying, on-task-to-a-fault commander had a family. It was obvious that the emails of that 'family' hadn't reached Soundwave yet. Soundwave sat resigning himself to watch. That he would be incredibly entertained doing so was beside the point.
-0-On the field
Alor finished, then walked to the entrance corridor of the arena, the applause of the masses carrying him along. He grinned, then exited, slapping servos with the coach of Vos before finding his way up the steps to his family.
"That was Alor of Iacon. The Prime is seated. Now will come the teams," Blaster said. "Vos is the underdog and Kaon is hungry for redemption for their city-state. This is going to be a very physical game I can tell you. Here comes Vos."
A team banner could be seen, then a large portion of the audience lost their shit as the humans liked to say. Seekers everywhere including the Great Elder stood and cheered their team as they walked in to the middle line. Once there, they planted their banner, did their war dance, shouted their war cry and waited.
Kaon watched, then when called entered. They walked in to great acclaim and did the same as Vos. When they were finished, they stood in their lines and as a group, both teams turned to bow to Prime. Prime who had remained standing bowed his helm in return. Then the teams turned, took their flags and walked to their side of the field to await the beginning of play.
"The teams each have their own culture and the fans support it. All of the teams have a war dance to let the other side know they are going to come out fighting. Then they give their war chant. When that is done on both sides, they give their respects to Prime. Only then can they go to their benches and the game begin. Right now, the captains are determining the toss at the mid line with the referees," Blaster said.
The cameras followed as Bracket and a Vos captain named Sandman called the toss. The ball would go Vos's way and unless Sunstreaker stole it, the goal to defend would be Kaon's. They walked back to their sides, huddled a moment, then the lines walked out. The referees who were waiting called the play on and tossed the ball to Vos. A big mech caught it, then it was on.
-0-Sunspot
"THAT'S MY BROTHERS! LOOK AT THEM! AREN'T THEY BEAUTIFUL?!"
Ravel hugged Sunspot tightly. "They are so beautiful," he agreed.
"THEY WILL WIN THIS GAME! I KNOW THIS! SUNSTREAKER AND SIDESWIPE WILL WIN THIS GAME FOR KAON!" Sunspot said. He held his grandgenitors' servos as he stood between them, Spot sitting at his peds looking up at him with a huge tongue lolling smile.
The teams lined up as the vast crowd watched, the rumble of their voices, movements and energy could be felt through the habitat suits on the human's skin as they stood beside the Hu An watching. Their segways were removed to the ground in front of their position to keep them out of the way. A Day Watch officer was assigned to them and some of the bigger ones were positioned to protect the humans against accidents.
The teams lined up and the ball went up heading toward the Vos forward line. Mechs jumped including Sunstreaker and the clash of their bodies together was incredible. The ball was caught and a flying wedge of Vos mechs ran it forward.
Into a brick wall.
It was not only stopped but lost ground. They ended up behind their own starting line in a huddle.
"WHAT THE FRAG! COME ON! WE SCORE EARLY AND THOSE MANIACS WILL BE OFF THEIR GAME! YOU LADIES *DO* KNOW WHAT WE'RE HERE FOR, RIGHT?" -their team captain, pissed.
"We know. Don't we know? What about you, Sparky? You know, right?" -their center
"Yeah, I THINK I DO! I'VE BEEN ON THIS FRAGGING TEAM NOW … WHAT? VORNS!?" -wingmech, pissed.
"Uh, we haven't been playing vorns, Cardie. I think we can all agree on that, right?" -nice mountainous sized sweet guy who is playing because he wants to impress his pre-bond.
Everyone stares at mountainous sized mech and vent sighs. They break and return to the line.
"Hut, you slaggers," their center mutters as he goes to get in place.
They bend into it and the ball is back in play. The lines clash, running into each other like low flying airplanes. The sound was even heard in the thin atmosphere as they beat the crap out of each other. Arms rose up and fell, helms peeped up and were punched down as the teams tussled. The ball slipped out of the Vos winger's arms bouncing away.
Sunstreaker jumped up and ran across the backs of the scrum to leap forward onto the ball. As he did, several Vos and a couple of Kaon players clambered out to grab and/or protect him. He staggered up and ran for the goal as fast as he could with a Vos player gripping his ped. Fists flew and that player was left in the dust as the big Lambo picked up speed.
Sunstreaker ran like the police were after him. He ran like he was jumping over a fence from the Youth Center to get away. He ran like he wanted his city to have the prestige that it never had from the beginning of the world. As he did, he left the others behind. Coming closer to the goal, he saw the goalie get set. The defensive backs were homing in on him but he ignored that. He leaped into the air, the ball in his servo.
The goalie set moving to leap up to counter it. Then Sunstreaker spun landing on the ground. He jumped high then spun again like a top toward the hoop. He flew through the air as he slipped past the goalie and with all the strength that he possessed, he put the ball through the hoop.
Score.
That was when the defenders and both lines caught up with him. They crashed together in midair, then fell to the ground like birds who had flown into a window.
The crowd went nuts.
Ratchet watched the pile up and winced. "That is going to leave a mark."
Ironhide nodded as he held Praxus. That little bot was looking over his atar's shoulder making happy faces with Miracle who was looking over HIS atar's shoulder. They didn't care. Their audials were registering nearly nil. They were just with the family having a good time.
On the field near the pile up Drift and Springer watched as the two sides unwound each other from their respective afts and undercarriages. Sunstreaker stood up and cricked his neck. Then he walked triumphantly toward his bench and the wildly celebrating members of his team.
He was engulfed.
Sunspot waved his arms in his complete joy at his brothers. "ADA! ATAR! MY BROTHER WON THIS! SUNSTREAKER SCORED THE BALL! DID YOU SEE IT!?"
"I saw it," Ratchet said as he jumped up and down.
"I THINK THEY WILL WIN THIS GAME! MY BROTHERS ARE GOING TO WIN!" Sunspot yelled in his delight. As he did, two worlds shared it on the jumbotron.
-0-Control booth
"That little Seeker is the younger brother of the mech who just scored. That is Sunspot and his brother, Sunstreaker just laid down the first score of the game," Blaster said.
"That was a great dunk," Jazz said nodding. "He faked out the goalie within an inch of his life."
"That was classic," Blaster said as Revet re-ran the play. They were laying down the commentary, the only ones who were allowed during the game. They did a pre-game show with sportscasters on Earth before the game. They would do the game themselves, then follow up afterward with a post-game show with Earthers.
"So is that little Seeker. I see that his little brother still has his outfit on," Blaster said with a chuckle. "Ratchet told me that his little sister had him put it on so he could dance with her."
Orion was shown on the screen as Revet homed in on the baby. He was waving his tiny pennant for Kaon while grinning like a jack-o-lantern. Around him the family was equally excited. Kestrel who was a die-hard Iacon fan was smiling next to Tagg as he explained a couple of things about the teams. They looked entirely happy and because they were so was Prime.
Prowl on the other servo was hard to read. If Kaon won, they would play Praxus and the twins would be a threat to his carefully manipulated … uh, managed plans for football domination of the world. It would also put an edge on the family loyalties. If Vos won it would be easier. What to do? What to do … he leaned forward and yelled: "GO, VOS!"
Ratchet glanced at him and laughed. Leaning forward, he yelled: "GO, KAON!"
Prowl glanced at Ratchet with a cool optic. "Loser."
"Whiner."
They gave each other the stink optic, then turned and began to yell like crazy fools: "GO, VOS/KAON!"
TBC August 16, 2013
NOTE: I have been watching the assembly of amazing concept and high performance cares on the Discovery channel. I am watching the Ferrari show now but the one for the Lamborghini Aventadore which is the next one is going to be awesome. SkyenhaMarissa told me about them. She says it takes 200 HOURS to apply the paint coats to this car. She mentioned it might explain Sunstreaker's angst about his finish. :D:D:D
For Ferrari, the cars are made by hand mostly and few can be made a day. 4 Ferraris a day get turned out and the process takes about a month all told to make one. That's it. :D:D:D:D
Did I ever say that readers are awesome?
(The series is How It's Made: Dream Cars) The Ferrari has 660 horsepower and 0-60 mph in under 4 seconds.
Masserati Quatro Fortes are only made to order which means all of them are paid for before they are made.(Think 1-2 million dollars each.) The car's personalization is created down to the smallest detail by the owner on line.
DROOL!
I want a 'spensive car. :D
Lamborghini facts now that I just watched one being built:
Countach is pronounced Coon-tash. This is the G1 Twins and the version of Lamborghini that made their reputation.
The Aventadore: 217 mph and 0-60 in 2.9 seconds.
God, these cars are MADE BY HAND!
Ferraris take 98 hours in the painting bays to get their coats sprayed on by robots. Masserati take a bit longer. Lamborghinis get their zillion coats of paint over a period of 200 HOURS BY HAND! They polish it by hand for THREE DAYS! The car then gets a 2 hour overlook by the auditor to see that the paint is right. These cars are sanded by hand before any base coats go on. Lambos are painted by hand unlike others which are done by robots. 200 hours is EIGHT POINT THREE DAYS! Eleven days for the paint and buff.
"FRAG! THAT'S LONGER THAN WE DO!" -the twins
Only four cars can be made by hand a day since their under mono-coats which is the first step created take so long to make by hand – six hours each.
The shock absorbers because of Lambo's speeds are amazing. It can handle intense speeds when the car flattens toward the road itself from stresses and torque. The doors lift up and are called Scissor Doors.
The awesomeness never ends. :D
The scissor doors can go up by remote control and there is a key less ignition. The car has a push button starter with a red key cover.
DROOL!
Uh, sorry. V12 engine. Awesome design. Extraordinary. No wonder half the Autobots are Lambos. :D