The Diego Diaries: Skills (467) edited
-0-At that moment
They were on their way to the science habitat when the rumble beneath their wheels could be felt. A swoosh of energy flashed through the tunnels below their feet as the blast dispersed. Pausing their segways, they looked in the direction everyone else was glancing. All of the bots on the sidewalks paused, then turned toward the Mare Tranquilitatis. It was like standing in a forest of giants, all of them frozen in place. Then there was movement.
Mechs were running toward the Metro station #2 where fire and smoke could see billowing out. They flashed past, then others moved too. Soldiers on the streets turned to assist what could not be determined at the moment from their vantage point. It was surreal to Sheila Conroy and Alejandro Lopez who stared with disbelief. Then Will Lennox and Bobby Epps zipped past them heading toward the scene. Glancing at each other, Sheila and Alejandro motored forward finding a place to park where they were out of the way but had full view of things.
-0-Elsewhere
She paused, then walked to the window of Ultra Magnus's office peering out. Smoke was rising up into the sky at the corner subway station. She turned looking up at Magnus who had paused for a moment. :What's happening, Magnus?: she asked.
He looked down at her. :Stay off the streets, Mikaela. Something is happening and workers will need to get by: He turned and walked to the door. Exiting, she turned to peer out again. Fire trucks from the Unified Fire Department were pulling up, non-sentient vehicles driven by the fire fighters. She watched as the experts began to fight the fire which was falling back rapidly in the thin atmosphere. The smoke on the other hand billowed.
-0-On the way
They ran across the airfield on the way to the city and the dark cloud of smoke that was spreading out in the thin atmosphere. Traffic had been stopped, the sentient among the vehicles transforming to see better what was happening. A crowd was gathering along Metroplex Highway 1.
Optimus cut through the crowd followed by Ratchet and Prowl. They made their way forward to the teams fighting the debacle before them. Ratchet paused by Inferno. "Who is in there?" he asked.
"We had a train leaving the station," Inferno said as Ratchet turned to go down the steps. Inferno grabbed his arm. "Ratchet."
Ratchet glanced over his shoulder. "I have to go. If anyone is in there they will need us now not later." Then he turned and hurried forward into the smoke. Down the steps he went stepping around hoses and mechs who were beating back the smoke. The fire was out but the station had been gutted. The tracks lay in curls, the walls missing chunks of stone from being pitted in the blast. He looked with his specialized optics through the darkness identifying things all around him. He stared at the ground and saw the chasms where the floor had disintegrated.
Automatic programming he had developed and refined over eons of time came online automatically. He knew where he was and a multi-dimensional image of the scene formulated immediately. He turned and crossed the destruction until he came to the edge of the platform. Stepping down, he walked the direction of the train pathways until he disappeared out of sight.
-0-Above ground
Prime got the news from Inferno and watched Ratchet go. That bot always did. No matter how bad the fighting, no matter how dangerous the terrain, Ratchet would go after the wounded, injured and even the dead. He had seen it millions of times and he saw it now. Prowl who was with him nodded, then turned disappearing down the steps to the shattered platform. He disappeared into the smoke and bodies who were coming and going doing fire suppression.
The Watch from nearby Substation 4 had cordoned off the area allowing only rescue forces to pass. Springer and Drift materialized beside Prime cutting short their preparation for the mission. Drift bore the dull gray paint all the ground forces would wear while Springer was half painted and half not, coming to the mix up from the hangars nearby. "What do you want, Prime?" he asked.
"I want this locked down. No information goes out. I want the ones who did this. Preserve the scene for Cirrius and his team. They are on their way. I want answers yesterday."
Springer nodded. "Okay."
Prime glanced at him. "The mission is off."
Springer nodded, then smirked slightly. "Now you tell me." He turned and both walked off into the crowd.
-0-Around the city
A crowd began to gather as bots were held up on their progress by the cordoned off streets. Some of them turned and went around the problem heading for where they were supposed to be but most stood watching uncertainly, some fearfully, others worriedly. None of them were feeling very good. First a boiler blew up, then this. It was worrisome.
Nearby filming together, IntraComm and the humans recorded all that they saw. They were joined by other humans including the three soldiers, scientists, Charlotte Mearing and Seymour Simmons. All of them stood silently watching as things were sorted out.
-0-Inside the tunnel
He hurried as fast as he could down the tunnel which was pockmarked, pot holed and filled with smoke. His specialized medical programming and multipurpose optics made the place as bright as day. He saw scorch marks indicating a fireball had blazed its way down this tunnel and two others. Fortunately, there was a lag between trains to accommodate the intricacy of the system. Ahead in the darkness he could see the looming mass of something dark. It had been lifted off the tracks and slammed into the walls.
He reached it, then paused as automatic programming did all the usual things. It checked the heat register of the broken damaged car, the structural soundness, or not of the metal he was facing, the interior and all who might be in it. Given that the train system was automated, he knew he wouldn't have to look for engineers. His software read one passenger in the end car which was the one jammed against the wall before him. All the others were empty.
He said a word of thanks to Primus that this time of the orn usually meant low ridership as he gripped the twisted door and yanked. Other servos appeared out of the dimness and joined his. Both Ratchet and Prowl pulled hard and the door came off. Staggering back, they tossed it aside.
Looking inside, Ratchet found his patient. Scanning even as he climbed over the broken threshold, he clambered forward and knelt beside the figure. The mech had broken bits and pieces, was unconscious and pressed against the wall. Ratchet glanced up. :We need a stretcher, Prowl:
The winger nodded, then turned away. Ratchet pulled out a number of instruments scanning to make a plan for the youngling. They would have to put him on a stretcher, then carry him to the surface. His pain would be quelled by injection as Ratchet put him into a mild state of stasis. He studied the youngling mech, then recognized him. He was A-cee, the battered former Decepticon miner who had come in with the last refugee group. His bond, D-cee had been his best friend growing up. They had just released that youngling after a stint in intensive care and a general ward.
Footfalls drew his attention. He glanced over his shoulder through the door of the battered car to the darkness beyond. Prowl appeared along with two medics who carried a stretcher between them. Pausing at the broken doorway, Prowl stepped in and knelt. "What do you want to do? Is he very bad?"
"I don't know. I think he's battered but going to be okay if we can get him somewhere for help," Ratchet said. "His bond just got out of the hospital. If someone could find him and their genitors, it would be a better way to find out about this than through the news."
Prowl nodded. "I'll get a Watch mech to bring them to the hospital. They are going to the Medical Center, right?" Prowl asked as the two mechs with him slid the stretcher in. They climbed in after it and began to organize the youngling for transport. Ratchet glanced at him. "It would be best. Its right there and they can carry him over. Don't let anyone film this. His family needs to know first."
Prowl nodded, then turned to go back up the tunnel. Ratchet on the other servo gently arranged the mech's limbs, then helped the medics lift him onto the stretcher. When they had accomplished that, Ratchet scanned him again. "We have to go really carefully," he said as the mechs gently hoisted him. They slowly exited the car and crept down the tunnel to the platform.
As they walked back to the platform, Cirrius and his team were already standing there. Ratchet nodded to them. "Cirrius, the car is off the tracks. There are pot holes and broken steel everywhere. We left it as it was."
"Thank you, Ratchet," Cirrius said as he stepped down, devices in servo. Behind him, the others were searching for the bomb and anything else that remained. "We're heading there now."
Ratchet nodded, then followed up the broken steps toward the surface where weak light filtered in through the smoke. When he reached the top, the medics were already carrying the youngling through the crowd toward the hospital tower across the highway.
He walked to Prime and turned looking back into the subway entrance. "I have doctors waiting for the patient. He's the only one that was down there. Its a pockmarked mess. The injured is one of the mechs from the last migration, the one whose bond was in intensive care for several orns. He's got some injuries that will take time but he's going to be alright. I asked Prowl to get his family and bond so that they won't hear it on the news."
Prime nodded. "Thank you, Ratchet."
Ratchet nodded then glanced around. Nearby talking to Starscream, Blackjack and Ironhide stood together, Prowler nowhere to be seen. He considered the debris piled up nearby, then glanced at Prime. That bot whose calm was legendary was seething with fury. It would take someone who was conversant in the mech's demeanor to get the full effect but Ratchet was an expert.
Prime was pissed.
-0-Down below
Springer and Drift stood alongside what once were the tracks as both watched techs from Sciences rig lights in the battered tunnel. The light eerily lit up the space which was devastated. "This is fragged. Half the city passes through this station," Springer said sourly.
Drift nodded. "Half the sparklings in the city go to school from this station. Its going to be hard for the next few."
Springer nodded. "These fraggers are going to frag me off if they keep this up. I want them, Drift. There could have been sparklings or elderly on that train," Springer said stepping back to allow a member of the team Cirrius led pass by.
"We better get them soon. Something tells me that there will be no video evidence and only the slightest of the mechanism if any at all. This is beginning to frag me off too."
Springer nodded, then turned. "Come on. Let's get this organized. They have to make a mistake. We have to be ready to grab them when they do."
They both turned and walked back up the tunnel.
-0-Wheeljack and Perceptor
He sat working out some complicated mathematics that would not be known to humankind for a long time to come. They were part of the bridge system that they were going to install around the planet to allow citizenry to go about their new world more easily. Camping would be faster and easier to do at the campground in the Valles that had been established after the epic adventure that Prime and Ironhide had made back in the orn.
Footsteps behind him caught his attention. Wheeljack paused in the doorway. "We have another bombing, Percy."
That mech blinked, then stood up. "We better go now then."
They turned and hurried off to the scene. They would take what was left of the bomb and the images from the security cameras. They would put their incredible talents into the problem and both would fail to discover anything of use whatsoever.
-0-At the scene
Ratchet turned to go to the hospital. He had been informed that the genitors of the wounded mech had arrived at the hospital along with his bond. The genitors had taken the news stoically but the bond, D-cee had been admitted. He had been waiting for medication when A-cee had been harmed and the combination of that news, missing his medications and his own debilitation had nearly toppled him over.
Stepping off the elevator, Ratchet entered the emergency suite where the family and the two youngling mechs were congregated. "Knockout, whats the status on A-cee?" he asked pausing by the med berth.
Knockout checked the readings. "He's going to be alright. We have to have surgery when he's stabilized but all in all, he's going to recover."
Ratchet nodded, then turned to look at the four battered looking mechs who he knew were the younglings' genitors. "Let's come out here and have a seat," Ratchet said gently.
They looked at him, then turned and followed. Sitting together, Ratchet scanned them. "You are recovering pretty well," he said.
"Our sons took all the brunt. They became soldiers and did hard labor to save us from having to do it. They are so run down," one of them said.
"I think you are too. You haven't taken care of your armor. You can go to any detailing shop in the colony and get it refinished. Do you use the lotions that we gave you?" Ratchet asked glancing over their armor as he did.
"We do. It feels so good," another said.
"Well, it's supposed to. I want you to get detailed. When you look good you feel better." They nodded to him listening to every word. It made Ratchet's spark flutter.
"Will our boys be alright?" another asked fearfully.
"Yes," Ratchet said flatly. He glanced up and felt relief as a big mech walked into the room. "This mech is Tel. He's a counselor. I think all of you need to have him help you. He can help your boys too. We want you to feel better and not worry anymore. You are here and we will protect you. Are you eating well?"
They nodded. One of them shifted slightly. "We don't feel right eating things and living in a nice apartment without working."
"You worked hard all your life. If you want to some later orn you can but right now your job is to get well and learn how to be happy again," Ratchet said. "That's where Tel can help you." Ratchet stood. "This family has had a terrible time. One of their younglings was in the metro mess up. The other is recovering from illness. I would like them to become a group case for Processor Health, Tel, if they can."
Tel nodded. "I will take care of it personally."
Ratchet looked at the group who looked back at him fearfully, tiredly, brokenly. "I want you to know that I am available orn and night. We are lucky to have you here. Tel will take care of you now and I'll make sure that A-cee and D-cee are going to be fine. Okay?"
They glanced at each other, then him. "Thank you, Doctor. We've never had doctors before."
"Well, you get them now. You are with us now. Until all are one," Ratchet said gently.
They nodded. "Until all are one," one of them said.
Ratchet turned and walked to the door, pausing. Glancing back, he nodded, then walked back to the surgery. His fury could not be seen on his face.
-0-TBC October 10, 2013 (Marion, let me know how I can help you and your friend. Until all are one) :D:D:D