The Diego Diaries: Go (645)

-0-In the middle of nowhere

They reached the hillock, then climbed up to the rocks that topped it. Looking around, they saw an unbroken green carpet of jungle that reached the horizon no matter which direction they looked. They were on top of a tiny stone life raft in the middle of a vast green ocean. Sandstorm sat down against a rock leaning into it wearily. The others explored the surfaces around themselves and its multiple boulders looking for something that would be an advantage if attacked. There were small boulders, scattered rocks and other bits and pieces that lay here and there.

Kup picked up a rock studying it for a moment. "Pile up rocks. Make more out of the boulders," he said as Hercy set up the signaling device on top of the highest crag. "Pile them up and have them handy. We don't have any other weapon against the acid monsters."

They turned and bent to the task of pulverizing boulders for weapons. Soon there were piles of rocks big enough to kill someone if thrown accurately and swiftly enough. As they worked Hercy watched the jungle, walking slowly around the top of the outcrop. As he did, he saw cloaked aliens massing in the tree tops nearby. He also saw dark figures moving in the vegetation below them. "They're here," he said as everyone paused. Picking up a rock, testing its solidity, he watched as something began to slither out of the trees. "Take up positions. Here they come."

So they did.

-0-At the Courthouse

The former governor of Crystal City sat on a bench outside the jail intake officer's office. He had been brought in to be booked and jailed. Fenix and his colleagues were discussing things with the Officer of the Orn, Inferno. They were discussing times to meet with Hadrian to discuss his situation and their defense of him. He himself was oblivious to the goings-on. He had never been incarcerated. This city had overwhelmed him. He had seen things and individuals here that he had not seen even on Cybertron. It extended in all directions, this surprising civilized habitation.

Prime had been busy.

It had been intensely gratifying to see Fenix who had come from an old family and had a great reputation in the law. He had given the whole problem over to that solemn individual. He himself was overwhelmed and in no condition to handle the new situation on his own. As he sat Fenix turned to him. "You will go with the jailer. We will be back shortly. We're going to meet with Coln-2 and Barron about this and set up hearings."

"Barron? Barron is here?" Hadrian asked with surprise.

"He is the Attorney General of the colony. He manages the legal side of this place," Fenix replied.

Hadrian nodded, then sat back. He knew Barron. He knew that Barron had rock hard integrity. He also knew that Barron had never approved of the System and had been agitating against it for as long as he knew the older mech. This would either be a good thing or the worst possible consequence. Right now, he was too tired to figure it out. When Inferno turned to him, he stood and walked with the big mechanism to a cell where he would live until someone else let him out.

-0-In a hell place

It walked out of the jungle, a huge black slavering monster. Springer stared down at it, then threw with all his incredible strength the rock in his servo. It flew toward the beast, then buried itself deep into his elongated skull. Staggering, it fell down and died. The bushes and trees that had been ruffling from the presence of others stilled. Then the darkness among them slipped back from view.

Springer looked at the creatures up in the trees. Picking up a rock, appearing like he was looking down below, he threw the rock in his servo as hard as he could into a group that was standing together on a branch. Screams were heard as two of them bent over and fell. The others froze, then moved closer to the trunks of the trees they shared. The two on the ground were writhing, then one fell silent. The other crawled into the bushes dragging the other as the cloaking devices they both wore began to spark and crackle, revealing them behind it.

"Nice shot," Hercy said as he and Kup watched.

"Thanks," Springer said with a ridiculous amount of satisfaction.

"They know we see them now," Kup said.

"Frag them," Springer replied evenly.

"Make more stones. Something tells me that we're going to need them," Hercy said.

They turned and bent to it dreading with intensity for nightfall to come.

-0-Nearby

A small ship caught the signal, then turned toward it. They would fly for some time before entering a scattered asteroid belt where a small sun with a large planet orbiting it lent its light to all and sundry. They would spend time analyzing the signatures of ships that huddled around the large planet. Then they would call for back up. It would come.

-0-At the rescue site

Prime stood on the deck of Salton Sea watching the last group pass through the space bridge that had been open constantly for two long days. He glanced at his pilot, then nodded. Salton Sea began to gather speed, turning slightly as it began to move on to the task at servo. Slamming everything in its path, it plowed forward as behind him the bridge flashed out of existence.

Beyond this area waiting for the ship to come along, three hundred Seekers settled on large asteroids. They would be the arrows shot from the quiver of Salton Sea as they ventured onward to find their missing comrades and the civilians who were stolen from the migration.

Prime sat at the command table with Ironhide watching as the field began to dissipate a bit. Soon they would be clear enough to throw their sensors wide, linking with the Seekers to enhance their reach. It would be a bumpy ride to the place they were heading with the hope that a signal would tell them where their missing comrades would be found.

-0-On a hill top as the sun sets in the sky

They stood around the top of the hillock, stones piled in large stocks that had been pulverized out of the crag itself. They had no advantage beyond the ability to see the enemy in the dark and to make their stones count. Anyone of them could put a stone through the armored hard exoskeleton with pretty good ease.

"The night is going. Stay alert," Hercy said calmly. He held a sharp edged rock in both servos as he watched a dark figure creaping around on the ground below. "You younglings … you're paired with a veteran. Make sure you do what you're told."

"Yes, sir," Lon said as he stood next to Drift. Smokey had been paired with Springer. Sandstorm was leaning against a rock, his condition deteriorating as time passed without food or assistance.

The night was quiet. Whatever lived in the jungle was silent. There were beasts afoot and no one dared let their location be known. Looking down at the mass of jungle that surrounded them, they could see the infrared images of their tormentors. They were beginning to gather in numbers. Nearby watching from tree tops, five big aliens clung to limbs and squatted to lower their profile. They had lost one of their own earlier. No one wanted to be the next to be hurt or killed. They were predators, not prey.

A rustle below drew Lon's optics. Before he could throw his rock Drift threw his. A sharp squeal rang out, then everything was still again. It was still for a moment, then it wasn't.

-0-Nearby

They followed the signal, a distress type that appeared to be universal. It was on strange bands but those that they were aware of from past experience. Homing in on it, they flew with the idea of intervention.

-0-On a hillock in an alien hell

They came up as a group from all sides. As fast as they came, that was how fast they fell. Stones thrown with uncanny accuracy and speed were inhuman effort … beyond the reflexes and organization of organics to match. The first two rocks Lon threw missed their mark, his anxiety and fear getting the best of him. Then he settled, dialing down his emotional subroutines. When he threw the rocks, they landed on something. Several made it to the top only to be slammed by metallic fists that destroyed them. Although acid flew here and there, it was only a light spray that landed on them. None of the beasts made it past them, all of them falling until they retreated.

The enormous clatter and noise ended, the sound of feet scurrying away replacing it. Then it was silent again. They glanced at each other taking stock, then looked at their ammo piles. They were dangerously low. All the way down on all sides of the sloping hill, dead aliens lay in their own acidic blood. It ate at them, even them as it oozed down the sides of the hill. Whoever came next would pay a price climbing up to them through the dangerous spilled fluid.

"We better get our rocks replaced," Hercy said turning to a boulder than had been pulverized earlier. "We're going to run out if they keep coming if we don't get going here."

They turned and began to pulverize rocks again while Hercy kept watch. As they did, the predators watched too. It would be silent a while. Then it wouldn't.

-0-On the hangar deck of the Salton Sea

He stood beside a battle shuttle that was getting fitted for recon. There would be plenty of ammunition and other necessities for combat which Devcon expected. They would be leaving shortly, three battle shuttles with the brief to go after their missing colleagues. If they could be found Devcon would be the one who managed it.

He turned to walk to the shuttle and board. Going through the pre-flight, he considered all the possibilities of what could happen. He was there when Smokey came into the world and if the worst thing was realized, something he didn't dwell upon, he would be there if and when he left it. He sat grimly as the crews loaded up and within half a joor they were on their way with a squadron of Seekers to find their missing in the vastness of the sector.

-0-On a hill

They killed them as they climbed up, wave after wave. Some of them were killed with blows. Hercy managed to cut their elongated heads open with his knife. Smokey and Lon fought brutally, the nightmare before them affording no other options. The beast's blood was flying now and burns were accumulating. When the fire from nowhere arrived, targeted shots that flashed through the night sky down to the base of the hill none of them were unhappy to see it.

Brilliant flashes of light cut through the darkness, lights that hit the ground and exploded. Screams were inhuman as bits and pieces of the monsters flew everywhere. The ground beneath their peds rocked as fires burst upward, twisting ropes of death that cut the beasts down.

Moving closer together, the Cybertronians huddled as someone in the sky above them hovered and shot the crap out of the beasts. They were scrambling, trying to hide as they clambered back down over each other as they fled. The jungle nearby was burning, that light throwing wavering shadows everywhere. It was excruciating, then it was silent but for the sound of fires blazing and the odd cry or gurgle from the dying scattered all around them.

Springer stood up staring at the sky as lights came closer. A ship was lowering itself, a spotlight illuminating the area where they stood. All of them stood but for Sandstorm who was barely conscious at this point. The vessel came closer and as it did something became very clear about it. It was not a Cybertronian ship.

-0-On the way

They followed a trail that only Devcon could see. It was a faint trail of a ship that had left the area. Passing through the jumble utilizing the specialized skills that made Devcon so feared, they moved as fast as they could.

-0-At the hill

The ship hovered next to the rocky crag where they stood fast in its running lights. A hatch slid back but no one showed themselves. Springer looked at Kup and Hercy. :This isn't one of ours:

:No but its a ride off this rock: Kup said. Hercy nodded.

Springer turned, then pulled Sandstorm to his peds. Moving carefully, Springer headed for the open door of the ship. Climbing up, pulling Sandstorm with him, Springer entered. He was quickly followed by the others. The hatch closed as the ship lifted off. Away it flew gathering speed as it headed for space. The aliens watched from trees nearby, staying until the lights were gone. Then they would radio to their mother ships that the metallics were gone and tell them what they had learned. After that, the predators who lived here would return to their farming, raising the beasts that were their shock troops. What they lost had to be replaced.

What they learned about the metallics was irreplaceable.

-0-TBC March 8, 2014 edited 3-14-14