The Diego Diaries: Onward ho. (dd6 25)
-0-At the hospital
They came in as a ragged nervous bunch who had been with Razorclaw as a soldier or as a civilian prisoner for a long time. They stood in huddled groups waiting for directions in their daze. One of them was a youngling soldier who had begged to be taken along with the civilians who were part of his charge. For whatever reason he felt, Razorclaw allowed it. He came along with three other kids who had signed up for food and nothing more.
Sitting down on a bench to wait his turn, he chatted with the refugee tech who would help him regroup with his family who would be stupefied with surprise at his appearance at their door. He would be wrapped in the arms of his family and brother, welcomed into their protection with almost hysterical emotion.
One down, who knew how many more were in desperation?
-0-Cybertron
Prime and Ironhide walked through a mostly 'rural' district of Cybertron, one of eight that currently managed the entire planet. Dividing the work up, the system was easier to manage and get things where they needed to be. This one was the responsibility of Raptor. It was going great guns because it was mostly small towns and villages, industrial centers, shipping districts, and other more lightly populated places. Wherever they went they were swarmed by locals and led by local delegations to this and that place, this and that spot, this and that shiny new thing. The smaller less obliterated places were growing in repair much more swiftly than the urban areas and highly developed regions. Their subterranean infrastructure was slighter and less damaged than the bigger targets that were the urban and militarized zones.
They talked to the locals, listened to their tales, took their letters and messages, noted their needs and who might assuage them, helped elders who insisted on standing even if they weren't up to it, listened to school children recite, dance and sing for Prime, helped explain the debacle that had happened in the Benzuli, the process of fact finding, legal review and if convicted, the kinds of punishments applicable.
They spoke to reporters from the local and urban news agencies that had grown up around the planet. They had come with Prime on his tour and brought any number of issues national and local with them. Prime and his party ate a great deal of food items, most of them regional and local delicacies and received gifts, most of them handmade and incredibly sincere. Prime noted where supply should be boosted, rerouted, consolidated, and otherwise restructured to make sure things were on the move.
He listened to those who managed security tell about finding the odd little group or individual, usually petrified and debilitated who were hiding here and there. They were usually so famished they couldn't think straight but they were on Gliese now, most of them, recovering at the hospitals there. Most of the locals were in pretty good health with rafts of upgrades, surgical repairs and/or enhancements, and retools waiting to be taken care of as medical worked down the lists. The waiting period was acceptable though he would talk to Ratchet about it anyway.
Businesses were coming into view everywhere he went. All manner of businesses who held to the same cashless economy that he had created on Mars were taking off under the oversight of the Business Administration headquartered on Mars. It was a shock to the locals that money wasn't part of the overall scheme of things since it was the first time in the history of their planet that such a possibility existed. Entering a bakery and getting a treat without cash was now allowed by anyone and everyone. Some had taken to hoarding in their shock but most were accepting that things were finally inclusive and equal. Everywhere in the camps, the whirl of life was upbeat for the most part.
He visited detailing shops, little bodega-type groceries, electronics firms, legal offices, and other places where the owners proudly showed him what they did and how they did it. There were trucking firms, moving firms, a private train company that did long-haul shipments of you name it, all of which had elevated the effort and speeded up the result.
No longer was the population hungry and cowed. They were awake and aware that they had a chance to have a life like anyone else. They created businesses, reported the news, helped in the construction learning new things and practices from groups that visited the planet from the Office of Business Education and Support on Mars while their children went to school and their elders dwelt in comfort. Retraining, retooling, rethinking, it was all beginning to pay off. The pall had mostly lifted and the atmosphere of the community here, there and everywhere was expectant and forward moving. It did Prime a great deal of good to see it in the actions, words, and faces of his people.
They traveled to Hard Drive's district where the masses of surrendered former Decepticons and those who weren't going to change anytime soon civilian and military alike, were held in large prisons with open barracks that sorted out the possibles from the most likely incorrigible. Walking through one of the camps, he was led by some former Decepticons who had taken up the challenge of helping detox the inmates and who ran the huge facility together under Gee-Gee's overall direction.
A huge mech watched Prime as he walked along with his guards and entourage. He waved to him to come over and Prime did. As Prime came to the fence, hundreds of inmates inside gathered around the huge mech. They stared at each other, then the mech nodded. "Prime."
"Tornado," Prime said. "I see you came. Did you surrender or were you taken?"
Tornado shrugged. "Does it matter? I want to know what happened in 221-B."
"The Functionalists had a recall," Hard Drive said
Tornado nodded. "We never went too far into the Benzuli. It was dangerous. It's filled with energy floes that could reach out and kill you within a flash of an optic. There were strange things there, demons. Some told me that illusions were there, strange realities that could hold you and you would never come out. Is that where they hid? Were they the evil there?"
Prime nodded. "Some of it," he said. "What about you? How long are you going to remain here before you decide to have a better life?"
"We can keep you here forever," Hardie said. "How many of you are going to be here when we have our millennial celebration of liberation?"
Some of them snickered as others glanced at each other. "Plenty of us in here will never surrender, Prime. We aren't built for civilian life or peacetime. You should know that by now," someone said in the back of the crowd.
Prime glanced their way. "I am not the one who will pay in boredom and incarceration. We have the life outside this fence, not you. If you wish to make me feel poorly about that remark, you missed by a mile."
Tornado stepped closer. "There's really bad mechs here. Some would say I'm one of them. Do you really expect us to step back into things without trouble?"
"Most have," Prime replied. "I am concerned more highly about them than you. I do not want you out harming anyone. No one needs to feel afraid or endangered again. Your faction lost. You need to focus on that one salient fact. The Decepticons will never rise again."
"Are you sure?" someone in the back said.
Prime glanced their way. "I am sure." He turned toward Tornado. "Think about what life would be like if you could choose your path. Megatron never allowed choice. Decimations were his answer to everything. How many decimations happened to you and your battle group?"
It was silent a moment, then someone yelled out. "TOO MANY!" For a moment, everyone shifted nervously, then some turned to the speaker in the back. He was a big mech with a gnarly face. "You have a problem with the truth?" that mech asked another big one who was glowering at him. "Every one of us got decimated. Everyone. Don't tell me you're going to defend Megatron? After all, YOU'RE IN PRISON AND THE FACTION IS SHOT TO SLAG! Where is your sweet Megatron now? The Autobots took the planet without a shot."
"He's my leader," the big mech said as he glowered at the rabble-rouser who stepped closer with his fists clenched. "You benefited from Megatron. Now you want to run him down? Why don't you give an oath to the Matrix and go crawling to Prime. I'm sure he could use another window cleaner."
Another big mech turned toward the glowering speaker, then shoved him. "Name one thing that Megatron ever let us do but die. He's right," the big 'Con said turning to the mech in the back, the one with clenched fists and fury on his face. "Gardie is right. Who in this group ever benefited one thin shanix, one battle, or one moment but him? All we ever got was dead friends and decimations." He looked around the silent tense group, none of which looked inclined to defend Megatron. "No one ever benefited but Megatron."
"He was your commander. He led us out of the ghettos and into power. You're a slagging traitor, Conn," the big mech said.
"And you're a fragger, Mexis."
That was when the place erupted in violence.
-0-Springer and Drift
They were elsewhere but bridged in from their shuttles at the southern pole. Running to the fenced-in prison with guns drawn, they paused beside Prime and his staff. "What do you want, Optimus?"
Prime who was watching was silent a moment, then glanced at Springer. "Nothing for a moment."
They stood together, senior Autobots and reformed 'Cons who ran the prison. Inside the lockup, the battle was fully joined as huge mechs and small slagged it out. It was anyone's guess before it ended almost as swiftly as it began. Gardie who was swaying with effort turned toward Prime. "I WANT OUT OF HERE! I WANT A DIFFERENT LIFE!"
He would come, give his oath and with him would come nearly everyone in the lockup but half a dozen who weren't considered good risks before the fight. The Former Decepticon Association's local branch would be waiting for them with Nitro and Scar who bridged in for the cleanup. After an oath taking and an understanding about tracking devices and a period of supervision, they walked off to get fitted. It was after that the FDA would tell them about the rest. None of them were afraid to hear it but none of them were in any hurry to face what would happen if they fragged up. They would be a moderate to good group for rehabilitation on the scale that the FDA kept.
Prime would continue onward with his group visiting and inspecting, inspiring and assisting for the next two days without a break.
-0-Humans
Owen Harris sat by the window staring out at the magnificent structure nearby that was lit up by spotlights. It was dark edging toward mid evening on Mars and the lights of the colony were on. In the sky, there were lights moving as well, some of them landing near the new habitat. He was aware that they were bringing in supplies, equipment and the personal baggage of the people who would live there. They would be placed in the proper places designated and their supply staff would undo the pallets and get things to the right individual.
Cynthia Tomas had just got off the monitor after reporting her day in the colony. She was living at the Sciences Habitat and would be there until they were allowed into Earth2. It would take a final walkthrough by the bots to make that happen. Prime would have to have the final okay and anything he wanted to be changed would be before final sign off. Prime was on Cybertron, a place Owen was determined to see. He was studying everything on everything and everywhere to pass the time.
Sometimes, he would come to the window to stare at the enormous structure in the distance. It seemed bigger than they had planned it to be and when he talked to Wheeljack in the earlier afternoon he found that it was. It was also modified from the original plans to suit the needs and demands of the structure and environment. Apparently, his team was less clear on what worked here than he had thought. It ached in his gut to want to see it and not be allowed. He almost thought to take a four wheeler and blast over.
He would be banned on-world no matter who he was to the project if he did. So he sat by the window and practiced something he wasn't good at … patience as the Prime of Cybertron walked around his home world giving to his people what Owen Harris wasn't even aware a good leader was supposed to supply … comfort, confidence, and strength.
-0-TBC 6-3-17 edited 6-5-17