The Diego Diaries: Titan 10 (546) edited
-0-On a huge mechanism around noonish
"You ready to leave?"
Ratchet nodded, then closed the last panel. "This will be enough for both of them to seat in city mode in a good way." He turned and followed Breakdown out the door of the nexus room where all his nodes for computers, vital systems and memory were gathered. They walked onward heading toward the hangar deck and the outside which was brightly lit with sunshine on this, a mid spring orn.
Spring on Mars was cold and clear, filled with dust storms and fluctuating temps that lasted eight months, the longest of all its seasons. Did I say it was cold? Given that Sciences had taken care of dust storms and the adults could comfortably withstand the frigid temperatures of vacuum, the day was beautiful and even balmy to Ratchet as he climbed down the steps from Metrocon. Nearby, his lights blinking indicating Metrobase was beginning to bring online the reformatting process for root mode, Ratchet watched as a miracle began to happen.
A siren rolled out across the plains as the great ships began to power up for transformation. All of the area was cleared for miles, flights put on hold, traffic halted and individuals removed. The ground began to tremble as the energy displacement of massive mechanisms began to bleed out into the greater world. Ratchet stood absorbing it, his programming analyzing the rhythm of it. All felt good so he turned, transformed and with the rest of his teams drove like a drunk toward safety over a ground that vibrated harder and harder every second.
-0-Standing around watching
"Fuck. Look at that," Bobby Epps said as the two ships began to move apart. The speed by which it happened was surprising. It shouldn't have been. They had transformed in emergency mode the night before to help prevent the nearby silent form of Metrotitan from destroying the colony. "I can feel the vibrations here and that's what? Thirty miles or more?"
"More," Lennox said as he adjusted the binocular mode of his face mask to see more closely. He could see the small print message on a hatch, so strong was his visual accoutrement. "There they go," he said as the mechanisms began to shoot upward.
They vibrated intensely as parts of their format began to shift, change, reshape and move ever upward. A torso began to appear along with servos. Those grew outward as arms appeared. Shoulders broad, and a waist equal to the task of supporting such a being formed, both pushed upward by legs. They stood bent over, then began to straighten as they continued. A head emerged, a handsome face shooting upward from the shoulders framed as they were by enormous antenna towers on each side of their helms.
They straightened as the last bit of transformation continued, then it was over. They stood together, incomprehensibly tall, poised, powerful, gigantic and beautiful. Standing nearby as if this were an everyday thing, the senior Autobots watched too. Then one of them, Metrobase slowly knelt on one knee. Putting down a servo, he leaned in toward them pausing when he was close. "Prime, we are ready to go."
"All is clear between here and your sites. Do you have questions on your route?" Prime asked the visored figure towering over him.
"No," Metrobase said nodding. "Do you wish to come along?"
Prime nodded. "We would love to go with you."
Metrobase lowered his servo to the ground, then waited as Prowl, Ironhide, Prime, Ratchet, Alpha Trion, Jetta, Mack, Elita, Jazz, Starscream, Blackjack, Alor, Knockout and Breakdown clambered aboard. There was room for a dozen more comfortably. He curved his digits then carefully rose until he was standing up once more. Metrocon looked down at the group in his brother's servo, then nodded. "Welcome."
They greeted him back, then the two paused a moment to coordinate. With infinite care and slow measured steps, they turned and began to go southeast to the waiting sites just beyond the Fortress. Riding high, staring all around, the senior Autobots went with them.
-0-On the road
The humans buzzed along the road to the Fortress, then turned to go toward the Tri-Cities on the unfinished dirt road that would lead from Fortress Road, intersect with Temple Road, intersect with the road to Crystal City and take them directly to the titan habitations and beyond, the Tri-Cities. Passing the mass of civilians who had gathered there to watch, they hurried out to where soldiers stood to keep anyone from coming too close. Pulling up with them, they watched and kibitzed as the giants made their way forward miles away. Their shadows bobbed and weaved over the crowd that watched, so enormous were they.
Crowds of spectators stood at the end of the destroyed road system watching as the two began to come their way. Individuals in towers, some who could fly hovered here and there to see up close the spectacle as still others filled streets in the cities that had a view of the area. They felt the tremors, carefully displaced by giants who were more than aware of their size and potential for disaster. They watched as the glistening bots bearing over sized Autobrands walked past Luna, then Crystal City heading for their new homes.
Ratchet held onto a digit as he watched, the sun glinting off armor and windows, both on the giants and everywhere else. The cities seemed to have emptied as tens of thousands came out to watch. It was calm, no breeze available to ruffle the dust raised up by uncounted hundreds of thousands of tons of robot stepping lightly as they passed by. Some of the crowds cheered, waving to the bots to welcome them. They glanced down grinning, nodding as they moved onward.
They paused over the junction underground station between Terra's radial cities and the one leading southward to the Mausoleum, the Basilica and the Tri-Cities. Conferring a moment, they stepped over the infrastructure with enough room on the other side to keep them from collapsing. Pausing each step for the tremors to stop, they moved over all of it and began their approach to their new homes.
-0-The Hourly News, in the studio
Aleph sat calmly, the screen split between the giants moving, other places in town where the citizenry watched and himself. "What is happening now where you are, Gen-O?"
"We are watching them pause. Apparently, the idea is one will transform and seat himself, then the other will in turn. One will be able to assist if something doesn't go right." Gen-O was standing in the open landscape between the pads and the Fortress. Nearby were work crews ready to dive in and do the hookups. Nearby, the Energon Administration's Substation #6A, the one down from Metroplex that had blown up when the bombs had been placed was the primary routing station for their energon supplies. Crews stood there too watching until they were ready to go inside the building and begin the torrent of energon required to care for such mechanisms.
The cameras scrolled around the colony showing groups watching, reporters talking to them for the broadcast and the mechanisms themselves. Metrocon had turned, then moved sideways finding his place to begin to change to city form. When he finally paused, the magic began.
-0-On a servo way up there
Ratchet held a meter to monitor the transformation, measuring Con's internal configuration as he began to go ever downward. It was rather fast given the amount of energy displacement that always happened but the crowds were far enough away to feel it as a sharp breeze laden with stinging sand and not an aft over tea kettle slam in the chops. All of the slightly drifting sand would be swept away from streets by shop keepers and city workers when things settled down.
It took ten minutes for Metrocon to sit down. When he was secure, the last of his magnificent skyline rose ever upward including the brilliant enormous Autobrand that marked the outer window free wall of his tallest residential tower.
:Con, you were fabulous: Ratchet said to the big mechanism. :All your systems are good. Soon they will be optimal. We're going to swarm you for renovation and upgrades:
:Copy that, Ratchet. I look forward to it. My symbionts … are they going to come soon? And residents?: he asked over the common link.
:Soon: Ratchet said. :They're getting a buff and a shine last time I checked:
Con chuckled, a deep soft sound. :Good. They deserve it:
:We are going to be putting residents into your buildings, Metrocon, when Ratchet gives the all clear: Prime said.
:I am glad. It will be nice to have company again and serve our people: the big mech said.
Metrobase nodded, then looked at the bots in his servo. "I will put you on the ground and wait until you are far enough away. Then I will move to my own platform," he said.
Down went his servo until it was flat on the ground. Everyone slid off, then transformed. Driving madly over the sandy rocky ground, they reached a safe distance, then transformed back. Metrocon looked at them a moment, then nodded. Turning, he walked forward until he reached his own flat support pad. Turning this way and that, consulting with Jetta as his brother had, with Metroplex and Max kibitzing, he finally was set. With the same attempt to be smooth and slow, he began to rearrange his body in the miracle of transformation that one could really only appreciate in a format his size.
The ground shivered and shook, the rumbling of his shift changing as well as the downward push of energy under his enlarging base could be felt under foot. The humans danced on the ground as they tried to keep upright. Putting their segways to one side, they rode out the amusing, slightly terrifying rumble until at last Metrocon too was in place, his tower lights turning brightly, then shutting down.
They were both secure, two cities magnificent and alien where empty plain once sufficed. They were glittering, vast and Cybertronian to the core. Flying from their tallest towers were two flags. The first was the flag of Cybertron. The second just below it was the banner of the Primes. It had been literally vorns of eons of millenniums that this sight had been seen by Cybertronians. It was not lost on anyone watching that it was resurrected on the dusty plains of another world entirely.
Not even among the humans.
-0-Paragon, Cyclonus, various piratical and freelance groups in the local sector
They sat watching their screens, enjoying the signal that had come from the 'leak' in the Prime's communications system. It was supposed to only reach Fort Apache but a 'break' in the system allowed it to bleed out into space for everyone to enjoy. That it was deliberate and highly edited wasn't apparent to the enemy that watched. It was enough that they could see it and be fooled.
Paragon vented a sigh, then glanced at Arrow who was watching. "This is fragged. They have how many giants now? Four?"
"Four sitting. You forget the two on the field nearby that are being repaired. Did you see the construction? There must be fifteen to eighteen cities there now. Millions of our people. Industrial plants and sites for raw materials everywhere. They host two different kinds of aliens as well. The Temple … commerce … I thought I saw a Primal Basilica being raised there."
"You did," Paragon said. "Next to a slagging Mausoleum. He sat back and considered their plight. They were drawing troops and ships as well but not on the scale of Prime. If Prime had nothing else, he had almost all Seekers anywhere with notable exceptions. "We need to meet with Cyclonus. We need to build a linkage with Prime and each other. We don't have to agree on all things but we could find common ground. We do after all want to see Megatron and Galvatron dead."
"True, that," Arrow said as he watched Prime and his team transform and speed off toward the two brand new cities. "They come to him, not us. They bring their skills and their hatred of the Decepticons with them to an actual Cybertronian life. We can't beat that, Pari. We better figure out how to join it."
Paragon thought a moment, then turned glancing at his communications officer. "Open an encrypted channel to Cyclonus over the Seeker hail sub router."
He did. A deep sonorous voice echoed over the communications speakers of Paragon's Ops Center. "Cyclonus here. What do you want, Paragon?"
"I was wanting your impressions of Prime and his colony right now," Paragon asked with a slight smirk.
It was silent a moment, then Cyclonus was back. "Do you now? Perhaps you can enlighten me."
"I was thinking about a meet up to speak of what would be the best course of action to take now that its clear that Prime is pulling away in the warhead race."
"Indeed," Cyclonus replied. "Where?"
"The usual place," Paragon replied.
"Very well. Be there in four joors. Cyclonus out." The line went dead.
Arrow stepped closer folding his arms over his broad chest. "What will you agree to do that would impress Prime of your intentions?"
Paragon thought a moment, then looked at Arrow. "I think we have too many pirates in this sector. Don't you?"
Arrow grinned.
-0-TBC December 9, 2013