dens_tf_den | hsv. Along the Missouri River at the Iowa/Nebraska Border. Sandbagging

July 20th, 2011. Location: Just outside the Mid-America Center, Council Bluffs, Iowa. Time: 2:28 PM

From the bluff, it was easy to see the humans and the Cybertronian that was working alongside them outside of the convention center, as well as the blue and white of the mech that was farther down river. The humans were filling canvas bags with sand, which would then get tied off and carried over to a pallet. The Cybertronian would grab a full pallet every so often as he made his way between the filling area and a wall of the sandbags, where he'd help more humans with placing the bags until there was a need for him to go get more...

It didn't take long for Pacer to realize the logic behind such actions, thanks to a news story U-Turn sent her a link to just before he had hurried over to see whether he could help.... The Missouri River had reached the flood stage, due to snow melt and runoff at its source the month before... The recent rains had increased the amount of water passing through this area. If something wasn't done soon, many humans would be out of their homes... Which also explained why the blue and tan mech was helping out, even though he had only made planetfall several weeks prior, and why that blue and white mech was assisting further down the riverbank....

Nobody noticed that the pale, tawny gold car hadn't been on the road moments before...

---

Torque frowned as he counted pallets. Even with him working as quickly and as carefully as he could, there was no way he could keep up with the demand, even with Mirage assisting... And with his comms damaged during planetfall, there was no way he could call any of the planetside Autobots for help. There was nothing for it but to give it his all and hope for the best, then....

Only.... He could hear one of the volunteer supervisors talking to a couple of people, advising them to talk to him... Maybe they were here to help put the sandbags on the levee... Torque glanced over as he hefted another pallet, and about dropped his load when he realized there were other Cybertronians here... A tawny golden-colored femme, and a pale blue mech who couldn't have been any older than Torque himself... There was something about them that put him at ease... Like... Maybe, just maybe, they were supposed to be here....

"Hey, I can carry some of that for you..." The blue guy looked pretty eager to help, so Torque nodded towards one of the pallets, a small grin coming to his own face.

"Mirage's group needs fifty of the sandbags on that pallet... He's about a quarter of a mile down-river.... The humans'll show you where everything needs to go... I've gotta go take this load to over by the casinos..." With that, Torque re-positioned the pallet he was carrying, and walked off down the service road that lead to his intended destination. U-Turn glanced to Pacer, who nodded her understanding of the situation before heading off to help Torque.

---

Mirage sighed as he worked. "I only made planetfall a week ago... From what I've learned, Torque has been working here since just before the flooding began... And there's only so long that we can run on human-made fuels..."

U-turn's frown grew, "Didn't you call for help though?" The brief flicker of defeat that appeared in Mirage's optics was discomforting.

"My long-range communications array is no longer working... And Torque's comms are completely shot from his landing, otherwise we would have called for help shortly after landing..."

"So you're just giving up on getting repaired?" Another defeated look. This wasn't good. Mirage and Torque both needed assistance, but had no comms to call for help... "What about using human technology?"

"I can't even utilize the humans' communication network... What chance do I have that a short-range comm would go through to the other Autobots?" Really. The young mech had no idea about how things worked... Mirage could all but see the possible ideas flitting through the youth's processor, but knew none of them would work... He had already tried.

U-Turn glanced towards some of the volunteers before nodding to himself. If one of them had a cellular phone, maybe they'd be willing to help out... Heading back for more sandbags, U-Turn sent Pacer a message about his idea, and waited for her input.

---

"How long ago did you make planetfall, Torque?" The question was innocent enough, and if this mech was anything like the version she had seen in the Nexus one time, he wouldn't mind.... And there was the 'Friendly conversation, yay!' smile that the mech's counterpart had given her in the Nexus. Good sign. Definitely a good sign...

"Well... I made the news back near the end of May, according to some of the humans... Didn't really get sorted out for a few days though..." The mech shrugged as he worked to place sandbags. "The river was just starting to flood when I was finally not dizzy... So I figured I'd help out here, since I know what it's like to lose your home..."

Pacer nodded, even as she scanned frequencies in the hopes of picking up on the local Autobot common channel. Several sandbags were placed before she picked up a slight hint of activity... Which sounded suspiciously like Shockwave telling Sunstreaker and Sideswipe to refrain from clogging the airwaves... How very strange... And there was Ratchet... Telling Skywarp he wasn't going to repair anything caused by blatant 'derpiness'... "I understand..."

Torque's expression was understanding as he nodded, before setting the empty pallet he was holding down on the ground. "The floodwaters should be receding soon, at least..." And then he was grinning, "Means there'll be plenty of mud to play in later...."

Pacer couldn't help but chuckle at the eager expression Torque had at the prospect of playing in mud. There was a brief brush of amusement alongside the gentle nudges Primus was giving, which only made Pacer chuckle all the more. That chuckling was interrupted by Ratchet's request for coordinates after being supplied with the information about Torque and Mirage... Which was a rather strange requ- Oh... Ratchet had a PINpoint... And despite his larger bulk, Torque could certainly gain altitude when startled....

---

Pacer glanced to U-Turn and nodded in agreement with the slight nudge and suggestion of taking their leave... It had taken Ratchet a few hours to complete all of Torque's repairs, as well as Mirage's, but in the end, they would be alright. U-Turn's idea to use cellphone towers to bounce the conversations the mechs had had with Ghost Team had been brilliant, and had succeeded in reuniting a group of friends... As well as introducing new ones.

This reality, unlike most of this tech set, had found peace nearly four years prior, thanks to a combined effort of Autobot, Decepticon, and Neutral parties. While it was nice to see such cooperation amongst Cybertronians, it was still going to take time before said Cybertronians would be able to return to their homes... In the meantime, there were other jobs, in other realities that needed tending to...

Nobody seemed to notice that the pale, tawny gold car and the light blue car parked alongside it vanished in the fading light from the evening sun...