Chapter 540
The Diego Diaries: Titan 6 (540)
-0-Inside a behemoth
Prime rattled around the command deck slamming into walls and equipment before magnetizing himself to the bulkhead. Around him, the others were flying until they did the same. Flailing anyway, they felt the big mechanism sliding forward, then downward as if riding over a slope. A jolt that would rattle their superstructures slammed them into whatever bulkhead they were attached to as Titan flew onward, downward, ever closer to Terra.
-0-Outside
Max turned slowly, pressing his back into Titan as his peds dug in. Trenches followed him as he attempted to slow down the mechanism, blasted out as he slid with the city bot. Rocks, dirt, light poles and other dangerous flying bits and pieces rained down on both sides as they flew forward.
Behind him running as fast as they could, Omega and his siblings tried to catch up. In the living memory of everyone including the elders among them, this sight had never been seen by anyone. It was the most frightening dooms day scenario anyone could have imagined. Tyke's trajectory was in a straight line toward Terra.
Before Max, the city of Terra began to loom large. He dug in harder, crying out in his effort. He could see faces in the apartment windows, the streets becoming crowded as mechs and femmes, some with infants in arms began to flee at last. It would be too late for any of them.
The sky overhead was black now, the lights once so friendly, some of which he directed as the Flight Center for the colony went unnoticed as he struggled in his agonized effort. Flights were put on hold to keep the chaos down. He felt like he was trying to push a planet out of its orbit.
Then it was eased.
-0-Metrocon and Metrobase
They ran without care across the glassine surface of the landing field. Bots and vehicles bounced like balls as they slammed past. They were linked internally as they coordinated the possibilities that raced through their computers and processors. Max was sliding toward Titan and would slow him down but not stop his flight. Seekers would add perhaps 1% to that effort with their own. Omega and his siblings wouldn't reach Titan in time to save Terra.
They concluded the only option. They would run with abandon, then grab Titan by the superstructure while sliding a servo around the front leading edge of his ship format. At that point, they would dig in and reverse their thrusters that still could be seen on their flanks. They would turn on full power to pull Titan off his intercept course with Terra. Just a tweak could keep the unspeakable from happening. They had to cover ground quickly, so they did. As they did, they bounced Omega and his siblings off their peds and out of the way, Con pushing Kappa aside as she fell.
They passed the seven who fell or stumbled away from their path, then both leaned forward with their arms stretched out. With almost impossible effort, they gripped Titan solidly. Digging in on either side, they powered backward using their thrusters on full. Titan bellowed as Max dug in his peds, pushing against the bot as he did.
Titan turned up his remaining power to push forward but he'd reached his peak. They were at balance. Titan couldn't go further. They hung almost in thin air, clinging tightly to the enormous ship as Seekers hung in the air like wasps.
Then Titan powered down.
Max lost his footing and fell, rolling to the side as he did. The ground churned up by his motions, then he rose to his knees placing his servos on Titan once more. Con and Base held him waiting for a moment in stunned silence.
Titan lay still, his stillness worrisome but welcomed.
Max turned over to sit in exhaustion. As he did he noticed a family from an apartment tower staring levelly at him. He looked back, then down. Titan had been stopped with less than one hundred fifty feet to go before impact.
The family looked at him and he, them. It was a miracle that Titan hadn't crashed into their tower and the rest of the city. As Max rose slowly, he turned to the others.
Base was standing with a pained expression, staring down at Titan with exhaustion. Con was kneeling, his servo on his brother's superstructure as if comforting him. Behind them, the entire rescue effort was heading their way.
-0-Inside
The whiplash from the abrupt stop was almost enough to pull them from their magnetized positions. Prime jumped down and watched as the others did also. Glancing around, the room was dark and subdued. Titan seemed to be off line, something that didn't bother Optimus a bit at that moment. He hurried to the door and pounded on it. "Ironhide! Ratchet!" Glancing around, he looked for the panel that would open it. Finding it, he ripped the cover off, then punched in a code that allowed Primes access to all levels of metro-city technology.
The door opened.
-0-Prowl
He sat up shaking his helm. As he did, he saw the incredible sight of a Seeker-swarmed Metrotitan sliding toward Terra with Omega and his siblings in hot pursuit. As he sat in shock, he watched Fort Max detach, turn around and run toward Titan across the vastness of the plain. Rising, he felt, then saw Metrobase and Metrocon running past toward Titan even as they were still transforming.
Prowl saw the inevitability of the collision against Terra and he knew there was nothing he could do to stop it but he transformed anyway and gave hot pursuit, his siren and lights filling the already chaotic atmosphere with more sound.
-0-The Humans
Jessie screamed as she watched though she didn't hear it. It didn't register on her mind as she watched Titan break lose and fly away. Sliding across the slick surface of the rescue pad shaking Supremes as he did, she watched a cloud of Seekers fly down to grip his superstructure. Turning their power to full, they couldn't slow it more than infinitesimally. He was gathering speed as the ground sloped, the inevitability of hitting Terra apparent. She began to run forward following the giants, the rescue teams and vehicles, running as fast as she could toward the disaster. She felt her eyes fill with tears as she ran. She didn't hear her own screams as she did.
The disaster was at that point 20 miles from Terra.
Behind her running equally fast, the rest of the soldiers followed. The politicians watched with horror, then almost as one ran forward, too. It was an instinctive thing, what they did. It didn't seem reasonable to just watch.
-0-Inside
They gathered before the door, their lights illuminating the entire area as Prime yanked it open. Lying on the floor looking dazed, Springer sprawled. Ironhide was standing, his arm showing breaks as he struggled to pull the t-cog away from Ratchet. It'd been removed, then landed on Ratchet who fell under it. Ironhide looked over his shoulder. "HELP ME, PRIME!"
Prime hurried in and picked the cog up, something his format could do with ease. He alone could life 500,000 tons of dead weight and had many times in the past. His format was a Prime and therefore spectacular in its construction. The t-cog, itself somewhat less was no problem. He pulled it out of the room, then put it down. He hurried back. "How is Ratchet?"
"Old mech! Say something!" Ironhide asked, his voice tinged with fright.
Ratchet who leaned against the wall half bent over by then straightened slowly. "FRAG! THAT HURT!"
Drift who was hauling Springer to his peds laughed in spite of himself. "Sorry, Ratchet. That just sounded funny for a moment."
Ratchet glanced at him, then smirked. "I'll remember that at your next physical." He scanned himself, then vented a sight. "Fragging cog. I forgot how big the fraggers are."
"What happened?" Prime asked as they all limped back into the control room.
"The slagging ship tossed us around like we were in a snow globe. Old mech bounced around pretty good," Ironhide said as Ratchet turned to him.
"You broke some stuff in your arm." Ratchet then looked at Ironhide. "Don't bring your weapons online until that's fixed. That's an order," Ratchet said as he patted Ironhide. "You looked awesome flying around in there. You and Springer. Atar and son bonding. I'll remember it always."
Ironhide snorted. "You're insane." He looked at the control panel. "Is this slagger off line or what?"
"He's unable to transform," Ratchet said as he scanned the room. "He's not off line but he got a punch in the noggin. We need to put him off line right now." Ratchet limped to the computer station and sat. Punching up a display, he worked for a moment. With a slight hesitation, he pressed the enter button. Nothing shocked him but the sounds of machinery dropped to almost nothing. "There. Tyke's asleep."
The sound of running peds caught their attention as in a bobbing circle of light Prowl entered followed by others including Gypsy carrying her little med-i-kit with the tattoos of her professional and military acquaintances proudly displayed along with pictures of her family and her name. "Is everyone alright?"
"Ironhide has a broken arm and I broke a strut." Ratchet scanned everyone, then turned to Gypsy. "Everyone has dents and Springer has a concussion. Everyone needs to sit and get a tune up. Is there personnel enough? Ironhide is first by the way."
Ironhide frowned at Ratchet. "FRAG THAT, OLD MECH! GET YOUR LEG FIXED!"
"As I said, Ironhide is first," Ratchet said rubbing his helm. "I can do something here while you fix him up. Springer, too. I have to kill a virus. Where's Wheeljack and Perceptor? I'll need them, Optimus. I have a virus file to download but they'll be needed to manipulate it so that it finds what's bothering Tyke."
Optimus nodded, then made the call. He looked around, then at Prowl. "I shudder to ask what happened."
Prowl nodded as shock still resonated on his face. "Titan broke free of Acroplex. He couldn't hold him. The Omegas couldn't either. He had enough thrust to shake them off. He was sliding toward Terra when Max broke free and intercepted him. Metrocon and Metrobase transformed giving chase. The Seekers gave some assistance, enough to allow those two to catch up. They gripped him and with Max stopped him in his path. We're about one hundred or so feet from slamming into Terra."
They stared at Prowl as that horror filtered through them, then Optimus shook his head. "I am going to look. Ratchet … is it safe to leave him? I have codes that still work in spite of his reluctance."
"He's in slumber land, Optimus. Go and look. I'm afraid to," Ratchet said as he sat wearily. He felt like he'd been beaten with a bag full of hammers.
Optimus walked out the door leaving the team behind.
Prowl hesitated, then walked to Ratchet. "You okay?"
"Sure," Ratchet said with a grin. "This youngling was always a pain in the aft. Think of him as a smart aft sub adult getting into the gangs or something. He never had the supervision of the others. He was put into service without the advantages as Ironhide would say."
Prowl sighed. "I'm going topside."
"How does it look?" Ratchet asked.
"Like your worst nightmare," Prowl said with a grim expression. He then walked out the door.
"Frag," Ratchet whispered as Knockout walked toward him.
"I hear you broke a strut," the red and yellow medic said.
"I hear I did. Took a joy ride and look where it got me," Ratchet said with a smirk. He propped his leg up.
"Looked like fun to me," Knockout said as he began to assess damage. "Next time, let me know. I enjoy going fast."
"Upside down on your helm?" Ratchet asked as he leaned back to relax.
"All the more better," Knockout said with a grin. Breakdown who was with him grinned, too.
-0-Outside
Prime climbed onto the superstructure of Titan to get a look around. Terra was filled with lights as emergency forces stopped there in numbers. Jetta was down below standing on a mound of dirt and rock that had been dug out by Fort Max's peds. Windows of the apartments facing the plain were crammed with individuals looking out at the excitement.
He looked around the area. Standing nearby, towering into the sky half a mile upward three formats were talking quietly. Max who spotted him leaned down and offered a servo. Prowl who'd joined Prime climbed aboard with Optimus and took the ride upward. When they were at the top, they turned to the three. "Thank you for your efforts here. It could have been a disaster," Optimus said.
The three nodded. "This is a sad orn for us, Optimus," Max said. "Titan is not himself. He would not do this without something being deeply wrong."
"Ratchet said that Straxus put a virus in him," Prime replied.
They considered that.
"He attacked Metroplex on numerous occasions. That would explain it. Poor Titan. We have to help him," Acroplex said.
Prime agreed. "Ratchet is with him now. We will need him put back on the pad. He's in stasis and his cog is removed. We can work on him there much easier."
They nodded.
"We will pull him back. Acroplex needs help, too. Ace located, then engaged him when he charged. We got there in time to keep the battle brief but Ace is injured, too."
Prime said, "We will take care of all of you. I am so happy to see you here."
"We heard your call, Prime," Metrobase said. "You and Starscream. A new paradigm is upon us now and we wish to assist. The call has been made over our channels for others, the ones the hunters and Decepticons cannot scan. We hope more come. It's very hard out there for us to remain away. It's dangerous for us now."
"I have heard," Prime said. "You are safe here."
"We can help repair things, Optimus," Fort Max said glancing at the damage his break away had caused. "I have made a mess of things."
"You saved us, Max," Prime said. "Thank you."
Max said, "It was me or Metroplex. He couldn't clear his precincts in time."
"He already had a lift off. He has earned his rest," Prime said.
Prowl agreed. "Indeed."
"What would you have now, Optimus?" Metrocon said. "We are yours to command."
"Get well and join us," Prime said.
They glanced around at the chaos then Prime. "It is our honor."
Then Max bent down to put the two back on the ground.
The rescue folks had reached the scene and climbed out to get their orders on what to do. Until Max, Base and Con dragged Titan back to the pad, there was nothing to do but talk and marvel. On a nearby rise staring at the spectacle before them, a handful of humans were doing the same.
Chapter 541
The Diego Diaries: Titan 7 (541)
-0-On site
The sounds were settling, then replaced by the flashing lights and wailing sirens of more emergency vehicles arriving. They paused some distance back from the silent ship which lay slightly askew in a billowing mound of dirt and hard rocks. Towering over his massive size were three more titans, Metrobase, Metrocon and Fortress Maximus. They still appeared to be jarred by the experience, one with such deadly consequences that even battle hardened soldiers were shaken.
Jessie stood to one side as the rest of their group caught up. She stepped forward. :Fort Max!: she called out.
He glanced around, then down to search for her on the ground. :Jessie Landon:
:Are you alright? I think I'm going to cry: she said with great emotion.
He stared at her a second, then walked around Metrotitan. When he reached the humans, he knelt down. :I am alright. All is well again:
:What about Tyke and Ace? Are they going to be alright?: Jessie asked as she watched Max lower a servo.
:They will be. Come. I want you and the others to meet someone: he said as he watched the soldiers run to climb onto the massive servo of the titan, helping each other upward. The others hesitated a moment, then ran forward climbing aboard with assistance as well. They all fit on one servo, the entire group of 19 individuals. He curved his digits, then began to rise. Up into the air they went as all of them clung to the Autobot.
He began to walk around Titan again, the heavy jarring of of his peds cushioned by the care with which he carried his cargo.
The civilians and the three new generals who'd never been to Mars before clung to Max as one of them ventured a picture of the two titans waiting for Max to join them. They were facing Max, their massive antenna finials and great red visors giving them an oddly imperturbable expression. It also clarified an entirely relatable and handsome set of features. The pictures taken half a mile in the air would become front page all over the Earth in a few days and win the best pictures of 2013 overall by media organizations world wide.
He paused with the others, then looked at the humans who sat or stood in the middle of his massive servo. :These two mechs are my brothers. This is Metrobase: he said nodding to the first.
Base nodded back.
:This is Metrocon: Turning to look at the field behind them, he glanced at the humans. :That is Acroplex. We call him Ace. No one in our format is a better shot than him:
:Is he going to be okay, Max?: Jessie asked anxiously.
:I believe he will be. He told us he has begun to work on his own injuries now that Titan is under Ratchet's care:
Metrobase glanced at Jessie. :Tyke is not himself. Something has been downloaded into his systems. None of us would become Decepticons willingly. None of us ever were but for Tyke. I fear he will be utterly remorseful when he comes back to himself:
:We'll help him: Jessie said firmly.
The three bots grinned.
:Have you called the others of your kind? Are you going to have Prime do it? They need to come here. No one can hunt you here: Jessie asked.
:We did not know the Prime still lived. We only had a lonely hope. We can ask him to do this for us over our coded lines: Metrocon said as the others nodded. :No one, even the bounty hunters can read that encryption:
:We want you all here: Jessie said firmly. :All of you:
Metrobase actually smiled. :Be careful what you wish for: he said as the others grinned. :When we can travel together, we travel in pods:
:Like killer whales: Jessie said with a grin. :I like that image:
For a moment they scanned Teletraan quietly, then all grinned. :We do, too: Max said.
They listened off line to something, then Base leaned down. Everyone peered downward to watch as Optimus, Ratchet, Ironhide and Springer climbed aboard his servo. Then it rose to reach the level where everyone else was standing.
Ratchet looked at the humans. :You need to be somewhere safe. We're going to have you three pull Titan back to the pad. He's in stasis and we're working on the virus:
Max glanced at the others. :We will place them over there by the city. Then we will pull Titan back. Prime: Max said. :We would like you to call on our channels for our format to come here. We need them to be here safe with us:
Prime agreed. :I will do that tonight, Max. When everything is settled and all are being cared for, call for me before you seat yourself. I feel the same way:
They looked at him with relief.
:Very well: Max said as he looked at the humans. :Jessie, John and Glenn, please help the humans with you be safe while we do this. Titan is very big and you are very small:
:We will: Jessie said.
Turning with care, Max walked to the edge of Terra, then reached down until his servo was flat on the ground. The humans slid off his digits, then turned to watch him stand back up.
:Everyone come this way: Morshower said. They walked over mounds of dirt and rocks that had been churned up by Max's peds, finally reaching the edge of the city to stand on the destroyed highway that still led into Terra. Crowds had gathered, some of the younglings running to stand by the familiar humans. They watched together.
"Ratchet," Metrobase said to the little bot standing on his servo with a repaired leg. "I am so happy to see you. We are in need of your skills once again."
"I'm glad to be here too, Base. I'll help all of you. I'm training three other doctors to be city format physicians but you're the most difficult complex mechanisms ever created. It'll take more time but having you here to work on will speed up the process for them. I'll have them bond with you when I finish assessing your hurts. It might take a few orns."
"We are happy to wait," Con said. "We understand the problem. Our automatic systems can fix a lot of things."
"That's true. Having genuinely good energon will, too. We serve grade A and A- to all of our people," Ratchet said with a grin.
"How?" Base asked with surprise.
Surprise on their faces was as strikingly beautiful as almost every other expression they could form. The handsomeness of the mega formats was legendary. It was no different now as Ratchet watched them.
"I'll let Max and Metroplex explain it. They'll have lots of stories to swap with you four. We hope you bundle what you know out there and send it to Prowl and Prime. We want to know those things," Ratchet said.
Con agreed. "We will. We were separated. We, Base and I found Acroplex a while back. He was hunting Titan. That was how we came together, hunting for Titan. Bounty hunters were chasing him. They didn't for long," Con said with satisfaction. "They were deeply surprised when the three of us teleported out of thin air."
Ratchet grinned. "Score," he said. "What do you need us to do to help you, boys?"
"Stand back," Max said.
Base lowered his servo until the bots could jump off. They began to run to a pile of earth and rocks nearby. Climbing up, they turned to watch as the three titans knelt to speak to the seven Supremes.
"They look like younglings, Omega and his sibs," Springer said with a grin. "Looks like genitors talking to their infants."
"It does," Ratchet said as the Aerialbots gathered nearby.
They stood slowly as Omega, his siblings and the Aerialbots moved back and away. They stood together, a forest of imposing mechanisms completely dwarfed by the giants standing in front of them. After a moment's discussion, Base and Con stepped forward stopping before the leading edge of Titan's ship format.
Their backs were to Acroplex several miles away. Holding their servos out, their palms displayed toward Titan, a pair of tight yellow beams shot out of the flat surface. The light landed on Titan and seemed to grip him.
Max who came to stand behind Titan pressed his servos on the big format's superstructure. Base and Con stepped back pulling Titan with them. With Max pushing, they began to move him up the slight slope that had nearly proved fatal to an entire city of several hundreds of thousands.
Slowly, carefully, Titan began to move. When they reached the surface of the level ground, he slid rather easier. It churned and broke up more as they did. It was only when they reached the pad that the effort paid off. He slid easily back to the place where he'd landed next to Acroplex. When they reached that point, they relaxed, the beams disappeared and the emergency teams could come forward.
Ratchet who watched turned to Prime. "This is going to take a while. I'll put programming on Ace and Tyke to work out their problems but I'm going to begin with Base and Con. I want them seated as soon as possible. Jetta is working on that isn't he? The sooner they sit, the better their nutritional aspect can become. I would HATE to treat this size bot for protoform wasting."
Prime nodded. "He is and I will check. Take what you need. Do what you have to do, Ratchet. The colony is here for your use. The infants will be cared for in the family."
"Thank you, Optimus. Make sure you burp Springer after he eats," Ratchet said as he began to climb down the berm. Catcalls followed him until he transformed and sped off with a loud blast of his horn.
Watching him go, Ironhide shook his helm. "Old mech has a screw loose. Needs a diagnostic or something."
"You volunteering?" Springer asked with a wicked smirk. It lasted until he was pushed over backwards and rolled down the mound of dirt to the bottom.
Leaning over, Ironhide grinned. "You need to ask, *SON*?"
It was the right remark for the right moment.
-0-Half a joor later
"You called, Optimus?"
Prime nodded. "I did, Jetta. Ratchet needs Base and Con seated as soon as possible for health reasons."
"We considered that. I've been talking to Metroplex about this and we've started to work out the details for the site locations with him. You know that when we refit Metroplex after the bombing that we rebuilt his entire subterranean infrastructure. We didn't pack the earth around the lines and conduits like before, but left them open passages with encasements of double density concrete lining the tunnels. The lines are suspended on steel structures underground in the tunnels. We can do maintenance, fix leaks and troubleshoot inside now.
"We have enough room there to lay lines for the titans in the system that'll take us out to The Fortress. We plan on sitting them south of The Fortress but north of the Tri-Cities. That will make our urban area more dense between The Fortress and the new construction with designated open spaces for recreation and roadways. We've drawn up the plans. Do you want to see them?" he asked.
"Yes," Prime said. "It is a critical need, Jetta. Pull crews off other projects if you need to."
Jetta nodded. "Already done. We began when we heard they were coming," he said with a grin. He pulled an architectural datapad, then knelt to roll it out on a slightly flattened boulder. "This is what we're doing right now," he said tapping a key. A layout of the under city infrastructure of the megatitans was shown as well as that feeding all of the different buildings, towers, businesses and installations of the city.
"We're laying down conduits for all of the energy requirements and when fabrication gets the culverts done, we'll put them down along beside the ones that feed Metroplex and Max as well as all of the food conduits that go to the apartment towers. The businesses that use energon in bulk as well will be fed into the new system that will actually be an improvement over what's there now. If one goes down, three other mega conduits will be ready to step in. Before, if one did all of the area was affected."
He pressed another key and another overlay appeared. "We talked to Max and Metroplex about the placement that all would prefer. They think that having the other four south of The Fortress will give everyone room and a good view of the others. It will be close enough for everyone."
"What about Titan? Have they said whether they believe he will city form or will there continue to be problems?" Prime asked worriedly.
"They're still out about him but they said the few times he did city form he liked it. He's young and wild. Maybe we can use him for something other than family living. Maybe he can be a business sector with government offices and recreation. We can ask him with the others monitoring what he'd prefer when he's up to speed. It could be that he'll be fine when his processor is clear," Jetta replied.
"That is good to hear," Prime replied.
Jetta nodded. "I'm thinking we have one or two orns before push comes to shove. I'll keep you posted."
"Do. Whatever it takes, Jetta," Prime said.
Jetta nodded, subbing his datapad to go. He and Mack climbed down the dirt pile and jogged into the bright lights and mayhem of the night. Glancing around, Prime noted several more mechs and a femme waiting. He climbed down and walked to them to talk.
-0-Ratchet
He walked across the hangar floor of Titan in the glare of his overhead lights making for the corridors that took him back to the command center. Wheeljack and Perceptor along with two refugee computer geeks were there now working on breaking the virus into tiny bits of dead stuff. He, himself was very good with virus killing but was happy to pass it off to others. Right now a subroutine was running in the background of his mind feeding him an overall picture of Titan's condition.
He'd just gone over the repair and refit of Acroplex a moment before …
"Hey, Ace. Nice shooting. Your brother is disabled but not dead. The usual precision," Ratchet said pausing in the command center of the giant bot. His interface screen was fully optimal, a good sign for Ratchet.
"Ratchet. I am glad to see you. I am running a diagnostic of my entire format. I know it will be a lot of repair but we have had a difficult life with the hunters out there," Acroplex said apologetically.
Ratchet patted his interface panel. "Don't ever apologize, Acroplex. You're a miracle and we're glad to have you. Prime's going to call for the rest of you over your lines. Any idea on numbers?"
"Its hard to pinpoint but there are still many others, most of them in hiding," Acroplex replied.
"Good," Ratchet said. "The more, the merrier. I'm training doctors. It'll be a steep learning curve for them. I've also downloaded your schematics to Specialty Fabrication-Medical as well as Structural and Armor. We can begin when the list is finished. I want you, Base and Con seated as soon as possible. Your energon needs must be met to keep you healthy."
"I look forward to it. I am very weary, Ratchet. Will we be allowed to host residents?" he asked slightly wistfully.
Ratchet turned to look at him, a bot he'd met and worked with at the beginning of his existence. Walking over, Ratchet embraced the panel pressing his face against it. The bond of doctor and patient surged a moment, then subsided into the warm gentle embrace that it was between them usually. "You will. You have no idea the waiting list for residence in Metroplex. Your format is loved by us. Don't ever forget that, Ace."
Ratchet had taken the list of injuries, worn hardware replacements, maintenance demands and upgrades with him after boosting Ace's energy levels now that the emergency crews were able to hook him up to the tankers. He refined the self repair programs, then bade farewell. Ace had holes, needed a bunch of repairs and upgrades, but he wasn't in bad shape overall. That was a big relief to Ratchet as he waited for the downloads from Metrobase, Metrocon and Titan.
He would be one busy bot for a while.