The Diego Diaries: Here. Now. (594) edited
-0-Autobot City, Mars
Ratchet walked to the hospital heading back to work. Things had been sorted out on Earth without violence.
Victory.
He disappeared into the crowded sidewalks as he made his way to the Medical Tower.
-0-At home
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker walked into their apartment in Tyger Pax, dropping their gear by the door. They would put it away later, the contents filled with guns and knives not conducive to infants who were encouraged to be curious. Walking to the fridge, Sunstreaker retrieved two beers. Tossing one to Sideswipe, he sat sipping his as he watched Sideswipe move to the window. They had a view of buildings that stood on all sides of them, the streets far below buzzing with traffic and pedestrians.
"Good to be home," Sunstreaker said.
Sideswipe nodded. "Good to be away from those fraggers." He turned to look at his brother. "Fragging fraggers."
Sunstreaker smirked slightly. "Say what you mean."
Sideswipe smirked. "I know where she lives. I searched for it when I heard she was transferred into sabbatical. Nice world for 'your career is over'."
"Where does she live?" Sunstreaker asked.
"San Diego," Sideswipe replied.
"You going there?" Sunstreaker asked with curiosity.
"Maybe. Maybe not," Sideswipe said.
"The OD wants us on duty at Centurian in a couple of minutes," Sunstreaker said as he finished his beer. Rising, he tossed it into the recycler, then glanced at his brother. "Better get the lead out, Sideswipe." He walked down the corridor with his duffel to put the contents into the gun safe aka closet in his room.
Sideswipe watched him go, then stood quietly as he hacked into the system relaying a call number out over the array and into the systems that handled telecom in the USA. It surfed swiftly until it found the appropriate carrier. Hooking in, it searched until it found the correct number. Then it dialed.
It rang a couple of times, then a voice responded. "Hello."
:Carrie?:
It was silent a moment, then the voice replied warily. "Who is this?"
:Sideswipe: He paused a moment. :You there?:
"Sideswipe? From Diego?" the femme voice answered filled with surprise.
:Yeah. How are you?: he asked. His conversation was firewalled and internal as he stood by the window watching the sun shining off windows around his building.
She paused a moment. "I'm good. Better. You? Where are you? Does anyone know that you're calling me?"
:I'm on Mars. No one does. I don't give a frag. I was curious about you. What's happening? Sideswipe asked.
"They put me on sabbatical. I'm at my parents' house."
:Sabbatical?: Sideswipe asked.
"They have a program to keep women in the military, women in roles like mine. They let you have a year in the world, then you come back to work," she said.
:Your career … you have one yet, right?: Sideswipe asked.
"I guess. Right now, I don't care. I just want to sit and think."
Sideswipe considered that. :San Diego seems like a good place to do that:
A chuckle filtered over the line and as he listened Sideswipe felt ridiculously better. "I love beaches. Diego was a perfect posting for me."
Sideswipe nodded to himself. Sunstreaker walked into the room rapping Sideswipe's shoulder as he did. "Come on," he said walking to the door. Sideswipe nodded. :I have to go. Got duty. Take care of yourself:
"You too. And Sideswipe? Thank you," she said.
He paused. :No problem: Then he cut the line and turned heading out the door with his brother.
-0-At the shipyard
"What do you think? Are we ready?"
"I am," Jetta replied. He turned to look upward at Omega. "Are we go, Omega?" he asked.
Omega looked down at the tiny bots, then nodded. "Metrotitan: optimal. System checks: optimal."
"Then we can begin the countdown to lift up?" Jetta asked.
He nodded. "Yes." Omega paused a moment, then nodded. He looked down. "Countdown is go."
A slight rumbling in the ground signaled the beginning of Metrotitan's transformation from ship to robotic mode. They turned to watch the vessel begin to vibrate as energy began to gather for the enormous task of reformation. Slowly, carefully, the vessel began to disappear in favor of a slowly growing, slowly rising figure. If he had transformed at normal speed, things would be shattered all over the place. Only in the most dire emergency did a city former change format at normal speed into whatever was needed due to energy displacement and the sheer destructive possibilities of their transformation to all and sundry around them. Fort Max had been a case in point.
He grew ever upward, his shadow stretching out across Autobot City as he continued to rise. When he reached his top potential, when his radio tower finials finally snapped into place, he turned to look down at Omega. That bot looked up as they had an internal conversation about the long slow progress ahead.
Metrotitan would have to skirt the entire colony, heading east toward unsettled land to skirt the prisons, the Fortress, two airfields and Autobot City before he would have a straight shot at his pad which was one of four nearby. Three were occupied by Acroplex, Metrobase and Metrocon who along with Omega, Fort Max and Metroplex were helping the enormous titan make his way toward their settlement. He moved slowly, each pedfall displacing energy into the ground. It rumbled, rocks and loose surface soil bouncing with each step.
Sentinel Prime stood with the others at the edge of his enclosure watching a ghost from the past make his way forward. Around Titan jogging at spaced intervals, the Supremes hustled to help him along. The others with Sentinel had no comment as they watched. They could all hear the running commentary of the Stunticons nearby. They were shouting at Titan, arguing among each other and generally being afts as the big mechanism rounded a corner, then paused to scope out the route ahead. Sentinel glanced at the pens holding masses of Decepticons. The herd was thinning, their sheer numbers perhaps halved in the time since their arrival. No one was making much of a comment. They were watching with intense interest the behemoth once more move south toward the open space beyond the Fortress. He would be required to cross the highway between the Mausoleum and Autobot City, a step that would require traffic to cease for a moment.
The ground tremors were as if the footsteps of doom to the Decepticons penned nearby. They stood along the fence line watching, stilled in the vast shadow of the giant as he came closer to them. He towered over them for nearly half a mile. His sheer mass almost made a mech want to tip over looking upward at his face. He had the visors so common to his format, a look that was handsome even as it was inscrutable. He glanced at them as he paused to allow the ground to settle, a gaze without optics to give context to his expression. It was as if he could look right through them, then he continued. It took several minutes for him to pass. They had time to see his armaments, his guns and destructive potential. What they wouldn't see was his Deceptibrand. He had asked for and gotten it removed. In its place was a shining Autobrand. He moved onward, thousands of pairs of optics watching as he did.
-0-Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean, Earth
Cameron Frazer stood at rigid attention before a hearing officer in charge of investigating his behavior. A general who was asked to attend as Morshower's personal representative nodded. "Please sit." He did. "We have convened this panel to discuss a matter. It has to do with you, Commander and relates to the Autobots and treaty alliances as well. We are here to determine the facts and to see if it rises to the level of submission to the JAG office. Are there questions so far?"
"Sir, am I being investigated for charges?" he asked.
"That will be determined by the discussion we have now. I am limiting this investigation to three days. At the end of that period of time all of the facts will be gathered for a report which will be submitted upstairs. Any further attention will be out of my hands," the officer said. "Right now, I want to discuss the situation between you and Captain Carrolina Field. Remember, your statements are being taken down. We are here to get to the bottom of a series of incidents that may or not tie into the relationship you had with Captain Field."
Frazer nodded, then began. "I have been in a personal relationship with Captain Field. It began two years ago and has continued," he said answering the first of several dozens of questions that would range onward for six hours.
-0-Centurion, Mars
Arrow walked along the street 'window shopping' as he wandered. He had never seen such bounty even on Cybertron. That world of plenty was off limits to him growing up. He seldom ventured out of Vos then. It was highly discouraged by the dominant culture. Now he had seen the galaxy and all its strangeness. He was beginning to think that this place was strangest of all. One could eat to one's content. One lived in a great apartment. There was opportunity everywhere. He himself had been 'volunteered' by Nitro for security duty around the system. He would do that when his itch had been scratched enough. Right now, he was killing time waiting for Paragon to return from Ops Center where he went to offer his services. He was a bit nervous for the bond. Paragon after all had been the enemy for a long time. It would be unsurprising to him if he came back without cracking the glass ceiling.
:Arrow:
He paused. :Here:
:I will be late for lunch. How about dinner at The Rookery? I am on the roster for Ops Center:
Arrow grinned. :Deal:
:See you then:
Arrow would stand a while considering a Prime that didn't lie and a world with opportunity for all. Then he would amble on eating a bite from a street side vendor, something called a 'hot dog' before heading back to The City to wait for Paragon to get off shift.
-0-Ops Center, The City, Mars, earlier
He stood at the door, his armor polished, his demeanor impeccable. He wore his Autobrand on his forearm like all the other former Decepticons. It had taken some getting used to and he was glad it was out of normal sight most of the time. Inside working with their usual precision, the mechs of Alpha shift went about their business. Standing by sensors, he could see Prowl. That formidable mechanism was as impeccable and by the book as he was. It was something that he found admirable in the taciturn mech. Girding his internals, he stepped forward walking toward the center table to stand silently, waiting for Prowl to look up and walk over.
Prowl who knew he was there from the moment he paused at the door such was his attentiveness to duty turned, then walked to where he stood. "Paragon. What may I do for you?"
"I am requesting a posting commiserate with my skill set. I have given my oath to the Prime and I aim to keep it. I have skills to offer so I do," he said calmly.
Prowl considered that, then made a decision. "Very well. I will take a break for now. I have tasks to accomplish. You may finish my shift. This datapad contains what I am following. Tracks," he said nodding to the big Autobot sitting at Communications, "can help you with anything that you don't understand or need clarified." He held out the datapad to the surprised mech.
Paragon took it, then paused. "Just like that?" he asked.
"Unless you have capabilities we don't know about, you can't do more than inconvenience this colony if you decide to push your luck with the Matrix," Prowl said. "I will be back in four joors. Comm me if you require it." He paused. "I am due in my son's classroom for my school service this quarter." With that, Prowl turned walking to the door and beyond.
Paragon watched him go, then looked at the datapad. Serious matters of all kind were listed there with updated data scrolling past as it came in. Prowl had turned over the Autobot Ops Center to him. He considered that a moment, then nodded. He would make sure that Prowl understood he was up to the challenge. Without another thought, he turned to do his duty in his usual intensely professional manner.
Just like Prowl.
-0-TBC January 20, 2014