The Diego Diaries: Aftermath 5 (409)
-0-On the airfield
Ratchet stood by Cosmos who was heading back with Sky Dive to have a tour on Diego. He had met with Prime for a moment, then enjoyed the bonding ceremony led by Optimus between Bon of Altihex and Rampage of Kaon on the steps of the city. Nearly seemingly a zillion mechs and femmes showed up to attend and it surprised Rampage terribly. There would be a par-tay going on tonight Ratchet thought as he absorbed the warmth of the weak sunlight into his systems. The sandstorms that had nearly disappeared in their latitude still raged at the poles and dimmed the overall light of the orn. Wheeljack had promised he would see to them as well. They still had the potential to mass and create months long planetary sandstorms reaching hundreds of miles into the atmosphere.
He turned and grinned. A mellow Drift and a slightly tense Springer were walking toward him. "About time you quit fragging and showed up. How can I make my debut without handsome mechs on both sides?"
Springer chuckled and hugged Ratchet lifting him off his peds. "You're insane. I think that's the sexist part of you."
"Why thank you. I do try," Ratchet said as he turned to walk up the stairs. Behind him hurrying, Fenix rushed across the field. He reached the stairs and paused. "Caro wants me to talk to some humans who will be at Diego."
Ratchet nodded and stepped to one side. "After you," he said with a grin. Ratchet smirked at Drift, then held out his arm after Fenix entered the ship. It appeared to be bumped, then he dropped it.
:Mirage?: Springer asked.
"Bingo: Ratchet replied.
With a chuckle and a determined tread, the three turned and walked inside the shuttle following the chuckling invisible mech ahead of them. The hatch sealed as Cosmos lifted off with his usual nerdy dash.
-0-Fulton's office
Major Andrew Settles filling in for Colonel John Fulton who was still on Mars with his wife, Judy, Lily Bolger and the Morshowers sat at Fulton's desk working through the paperwork that piled up while he and the others were at Festival on Mars. Fulton had taken him to both dressing rooms and he got to meet all the players. It was one of the most awesome events of his life. He had taken pictures, had pictures taken and by the time he got home, his blog had a following of several tens of millions. It was a privilege that he could help shape public opinion about the bots with the blessing of both them and Fulton, but it was also awesome that every sports outlet on Earth wanted to interview him about it. He had them scheduled out the wazoo.
The phone rang. He picked it up. "Settles, Commandant's office."
"Andy," a happy voice said.
"Colonel. How are things going over there? I miss it," Andrew replied settling back in his chair.
"Lily and I are going to Aerie Hill today to see a clan installation. Another chieftain has been appointed to cover for one still missing. Apparently, Breezy's clan is large enough now to petition the Great Elder for a temporary Chieftain. They want to do things with the Missionaries and Circle but they want to do it right. You know how Breezy is."
The incredibly sweet pharmacist of the Autobot City Pharmacy came to mind along with his wonderful bond and three sweet hatchlings. The clan getting a new chieftain was the most admired and respected in Seekerkin, an oddity due to their extreme pacifism and the warlike nature of Seekers. "I do," he said with a chuckle. "I hope you film it and get permission to post it. I would love to have more Seeker stuff for the blog. People are clambering to understand them better."
"I'll check," Fulton said and because it was Andrew and him doing the asking, the Great Elder would allow it after reviewing the footage for sacred and thereby off limits moments. "Ratchet is coming over but he's bringing Drift and Springer. Springer apparently is pissed at Michael Bay for some things he's going to do in his next film about them. Be aware."
"Thanks for the heads up. I'll check the internet for clues," Andrew said sitting up straighter as he tapped a key on his computer. It came on with a beep. There were 127 emails from Mars waiting for him. He was elated. "Will they be staying here or will they be heading out for face time with him?" He grinned.
"I would count on face time," Fulton said returning the smile.
-0-Diego Garcia, Indian Ocean, Earth
They touched down and the hatch popped. The ramp came down and the cameras began to flash as Ratchet and the party started to step down. Ratchet grinned, then posed here and there down the ramp like a debutante on a red carpet at a coming out party as he set the tone for his interviews with the news people who were massed at the foot. They were laughing and taking pictures madly as Ratchet clowned his way downward. Pausing at the bottom, he smiled. "Well, I see you came in force."
A news reporter from the BBC nodded. "Ambassador, we are so happy to be here. We are looking forward to speaking with you."
"I know," Ratchet said with a smile. The laughter was loud, then he looked back at the others waiting. "We have to go now, boys and girls. I'll be back," he said as he stepped past them. They moved back to allow the others, massive giant mechanisms of a scale television didn't do justice to come down and move onward. They started out for the Embassy when a loud sound caught all of their attention. Sky Dive and Cosmos transformed, then turned to walk to the beach.
"Wow," one of the reporters said as others stood dumbfounded.
"That's nothing," Drift opined. "You should see Metroplex. He's half a mile tall when he stands up straight." The other bots nodded, then turned walking to the Embassy to disappear inside. The humans stood a while watching them, then turned and burst into excited chatter.
It was a typical n00bie reaction on Diego.
A screeching of tires caught their attention as three or four concept cars slammed on the brakes to drift in front of the Embassy. They transformed loudly, then walked to the Embassy disappearing through the huge open doors. The reporters consulted their flipbook identification files a moment.
One of them looked up. "The reddish one is called Hot Rod. The blue and white one is Smokescreen but they call him Smokey. He's apparently named for his grandfather." They all stood a moment considering that notion. "The silvery one is a kid called Jolt and the blue lanky one is called Blurr."
They nodded and updated their request for interview file. It was granted by Settles via Fulton via Morshower but only under the watchful optic of the Ambassador. The press was elated beyond words.
The bots would find it funny.
-0-Inside the Embassy
"Hi, Ratchet!" Hot Rod said as he bumped fists with Drift and Springer. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here for my close up," Ratchet said preening slightly. "I have interviews and hearings. You have one too I have just been told. We have to go to the hangar. Apparently, there are press people that find you, Jolt, Blurr and Smokey interesting. I have high hopes that when they meet you that notion will be dispelled."
Slag hit the fan and when they finally turned to go, the party was larger. Drift, Springer, Tracks, Smokescreen who was due to leave again in a couple of joors since he was only filling in for someone so they could attend Rampage's bonding ceremony, Whirlwind, Trailbreaker who was filling in for someone else for the same reason and the designated 'newbie meat' followed Ratchet toward the hangar. They came out of the entrance of the Embassy like an endless stream of Buicks off a slightly mad assembly line. They walked to the communications hangar chatting here and there with the humans as the reporters watched in awe at the door.
A corporal called to them so they reluctantly tore themselves away from snapping pictures and staring open mouthed at the behemoths making their way toward them. It was a short dash to the stairs and a shorter climb upward. Once there, they stood and watched as the giants arrived at the door and began to stream inside.
Ratchet led the way as the three nominated to speak for all of Cybertron followed. Ratchet had given them the riot act, something that had brought smiles to the faces of all the others. They arrived in front as bots dispersed around the vast room to listen. "Here we are." He turned to the three behind him. "These bots are Hot Red of Iacon, Jolt of Polyhex and Smokey aka Smokescreen of Polyhex. They have been cleared to speak to you as per your request but I have the duty to listen and object according to certain inflexible guidelines if I make myself clear."
They nodded, their expressions displaying the usual n00b look: awe mixed with a slight sense of WFT!?
Ratchet grinned and turned gesturing the three to come closer. They did. Snaps nearly blinded everyone as the photogs among them blazed away. The bots glanced at Ratchet who nodded with a smirk. :Look handsome. That's all it takes and considering you three, that won't be difficult:
The three smirked at Ratchet, then returned their gaze to the reporters. "So …" Hot Rod began. "What do you want to know?"
It was silent a moment, then a reporter stepped forward. "Are any of you a ball player?"
They paused, then looked around. "Not professionally, no," Hot Rod replied.
"What exactly do you do? Are you all soldiers? Can you explain the differences among you a little," another one asked.
Roddy looked around and grinned. "We're all soldiers. I, however am the handsome one."
The abuse and punches he got were epic.
Ratchet just smiled proudly.
Question: "What is your format and how many do you have? We have heard speculation that there are some of you who have more than one or two."
Answer: (Jolt): "Most of us have vehicle modes that translate into different kinds due to our size. Some of us with fat afts like Trailbreaker have big modes." (Pause for guff handed to twee town car.) "I have a sleek format, a Chevy Jolt."
"You can't even see the pedals its so *sleek*." -Hot Rod
(general and generous laughter with much punching)
"I on the other servo am a rather beautiful Cybertronian car and here I format into the incredible Maserati Gran Tourismo S." Roddy beamed. He was also punched. "I tend to have more charisma than the rest. I know its self evident but I thought I would mention it anwa-" He was jumped on by several bots and dragged backward into a slag fest.
Ratchet chuckled.
"Jolt is a Jolt. Sort of explains the choice. I, myself am a more awesome vehicle mode in keeping with my greater awesomenes-" Smokey began before getting the servo of doom from the others. A pause commenced due to massive noggies on his noggin, then he straightened giving the gimlet optic to one and all. He continued. "I was saying … I am a Ferrari … the La Ferrari if you must know. It replaces the Enzio. I can go faster than just about anyone but Blurr." Behind him unbeknownst, Blurr walked in and joined the group. "I have 863 horsepower in generic mode but I punched it up to 2000. The torque is off the scale. I can nearly make mach 1!"
"And I can leave you in the dust at mach 2."
Everyone turned to look at Blurr. Ratchet laughed, Smokey grinned and everyone turned back to the reporters. "No one is faster than Blurr." -Smokey.
Everyone grinned at Smokey including Blurr.
"I, on the other hand am the only one in this room who is a triple changer. I have three formats and I am the only one who can fly which I must say saved a few afts over the orns." Springer, smugly.
"And he never tires of telling everyone." -Whirlwind who got some noggies of his own.
Ratchet: "The others have their own vehicle formats that translate to their size. The smaller bots who may look big to you but are either average sized or less have smaller formats and most of them choose concept sports cars. Lamborghinis, Corvettes, Porsches, Maseratis, Ferraris, Audis and the like are very popular. For bigger formats like me, we either are mature and chose useful formats or the coolest version of big vehicles out there. Trailbreaker is a Buffalo H Mine Resistance Ambush Protected Vehicle because he displaces nearly 23 tons."
They looked at Trailbreaker with big optics. That self-affacing bot with the low self-esteem nodded, a grin on his face. His huge energy guzzling format and slow pace had been a self esteem issue for him all of his life but the newer format had been a huge boost and the efforts of Ratchet to boost his power consumption had helped. Now rather than being the cheerful bot with the fluctuating self esteem, he was the happy good guy with the beautiful children and great bond, Hound.
"Trailbreaker is a great bot. But he is head and shoulders bigger than the others. It would be notable too that some bots his size can displace it when they transform into their formats. Soundwave is as big and mass dense as me but he can become a communications device small and light enough for a human to pick up." Ratchet turned to look at the humans. "We are not an easy people," he said with a grin.
The humans looking at him nodded silently.
-0-TBC August 25, 2013 edited 7-5-14
NOTES: Found this gem trying to research the model type of Smokey in TFP. (I am going to use a Ferrari format for Smokey unless someone else knows it. It isn't the G1 format that Smokescreen uses but the paint scheme is identical.):D
Transformers: Unlimited
Smokescreen will appear in the upcoming 2015 animated series, Transformers: Unlimited. Not much is known about his personality and traits yet, but it is said that his appearance will be based off of his G1 counterpart and has an ability to project force fields.
I have no idea what TF: Unlimited is going to be. It could be a name change for Prime or its another animated show to the side of TFP. :D More TF's can NEVER be too much. :D We will have to see. :D
PS: for those of you who don't leave addies for replies to your notes, thank you. I treasure everyone and sift them for information useful to the story. I don't want you to think I don't. Hugs to all especially you, Starfire201. :D:D:D