The Diego Diaries: Procession (dd6 57)
-0-On the street in front of the tower where the Primal Residence was located, Autobot City, Primal Colony of Mars, Cybertron and the Empire
He exited the building, sword in hand. It was deathly silent as behind him the priestly caste of the Temple, Circle and Monastery congregated. Among each group, there was one who carried a banner identifying them with their ancient emblems. Prime raised the Star Saber and the crowd roared, then it became silent once more as he holstered it on his back with astonishing ease.
-0-On the general feed over the MCA
"That's Optimus Prime with an ancient heirloom sword called the Star Saber. It's said that sword can destroy planets," the human narrator said as a number of humans sat at a panel to discuss and narrate the images coming from Mars. "Behind him are the priestly caste. There are apparently several different ones from different groups. The one holding the banner pole with the image of the cupped hands represents the Temple of Primus, I'm told. That first mech in that group is identified as Lord Lauren who is chief priest of the Temple. With him are others including Lady Sela and behind them are members of the Monastery of the Clavis Aurea. They're an ascetic group that curates and examines sacred documents for meaning and inspiration among other things. The chief among them is Cyclonus, a one-time ferocious foe of the Autobots and Prime. He was a Decepticon on the general staff of Megatron but manages the monastery now."
A murmur among the group greeted that. "Things can and do change," a woman said as the others nodded.
"The mechs in black with the silver markings and numerous tattoos who look identical forming up on both sides of Optimus Prime are the Household Guard from the Primal Residence. They're a personal guard that are dedicated to the protection of the Prime and his family. They also provide escort during functions and ceremonies. What a beautiful group they are. There are ten of them. Apparently, they protected Prime's family when they were trapped on Cybertron and kept them safe though his family was much hunted."
More came out including familiar Autobots. "There's Ambassador Ratchet, Generals Hard Drive, Raptor and Blackjack, the family members of Ironhide who is following them out. There's Jazz, Mirage, Devcon," he read after identifying them from an image sheet given to him for this purpose, "and there's Prowl. Prowl is bonded to Prime and the second-in-command of the entire military show. Behind him comes Flint, the brother of Alor of Iacon, the parent of Ironhide as well as some Seekers.
"The first one is Rainmaker, the Great Elder of Seekerdom followed by Star, the day-to-day strategist and commander of the Seekers, Thundercracker and Sky Warp, Silverclaw, Harrier, and Shriek who are I'm told some of the clan leaders among the Seekers as well as Red Wing and Cloudburst, both of them field commanders. Behind Cloudburst is Wren. Both of them command the fast response base on our moon."
They gathered as Prime stepped forward heading onward for the long silent walk to the Basilica. The priests followed, some of them holding images of clan insignia and other markers that they had identified from the recovered databases of the deceased group. The guard walked with precision on each side of Prime and the priests, their beauty a sight to see. The commanders followed in short lines as more came out of the building.
"This group formulates Prime's General Staff, most of it, while the next group represents various elected district committee leaders from around the colony and Cybertron. There's a number of delegations here from Cybertron and the whole broadcast including this one is being beamed there as well. This form of democracy is relatively new for the people because of the caste system and oppression that facilitated their civil war. Each city is divided into districts and anyone can run for a position on the committee that meets regularly to help deal locally with their area and to gather information to send to the general assembly which meets once a month to discuss issues.
"If they require attention from the federal part of their government which Prime heads, they meet with him or his lieutenant. Its a very effective hands-on system and the last election held for local elected offices had an astonishing 97% participation from all who were eligible," he read to whistles and shock from the other panelists. "It's not mandatory either. The three percent is believed to be those who were off world at the time or incapacitated."
There was a short discussion about how they all wished that happened on Earth before more came out of the tower. The narrator picked up the tale. "This is the delegation from Cybertron," he said as everyone studied the bots to see if there were any indications that they were 'different'. There weren't any to note including Deceptibrands which were banned. "The big mech in the middle, the one with the strange face that looks like a big visor … that's the former Decepticon governor, Soundwave. He was Megatron's right hand man and was left to care-take Cybertron when he left to recruit others to his cause. Soundwave is a ruthless individual but surrendered both himself and Cybertron without a shot when Prime came to rescue the people from starvation. Right now, he's one of Prime's men on Cybertron."
"How do they trust him?" someone on the panel asked.
"The Matrix oath," a military figure said. He was Colonel Barstow, "Barney" to his friends and a member of the general staff of Glenn Morshower. He was briefed by everyone, then sent to represent here on the panel. "The Decepticons have to swear an oath to the Matrix of Leadership that Prime carries before they can be considered rehabilitated. Those that can't are still in prison. Those that can are living the life including mechs like Soundwave who would've been imprisoned forever otherwise. He's a logistics officer in the general HQ in Iacon."
"What prevents him from becoming trouble for Prime?" the same person asked.
"The Matrix. He gave an oath. If he breaks it, the device will know and cancel his ticket," Barstow said with grim satisfaction. "It'll achieve balance again, though I'm not at liberty to tell you how. If that means you die, you die. Everyone who swears to it knows that and they know what might happen. Only one mech that I know of has done so and broken their oath."
"What happened to him?" the same person asked.
"He burned to death from the inside out," Barstow said. "Either you respect the Matrix or you don't. You don't always die but the Matrix gets what it needs to balance. If that means it wipes your brain, then so be it. Everyone knows that. Everyone gets it."
It was quiet a moment, then more mechs and femmes appeared. "These are leaders and representatives of the guilds, unions, crafts consortiums, mentorship organizations, and clubs of the colony and Cybertron. Some of these groups are incredibly ancient and some of them are new. It should be noted that the femme carrying the banner that has the image of Earth with the writing on it that says, 'Autobot City Ladies Auxiliary and Goodwill Association' is the one that most of the women living on Mars belong to. It also includes a good number of the men and soldiers who go about the colony doing good deeds. They work in the Temple, Basilica, hospitals, schools, museums, and libraries as well as other public and private places as part of the outreach by humans toward the bots. They have a very great reputation in the colony and they helped get the Temple, Monastery and Basilica ready for the crowds and funeral." Another pair of femmes stepped out carrying a United Nations flag while the other carried a flag with the symbols of Earth 1, Earth2, the Consulate, N.E.S.T. HQ, Sciences, and the Resort on them. "Those banners are for the various human habitations. There are six now on world with a total of 6200 plus residents."
The guild banners and leaders walked past while behind them came groups of great import and long standing in the affections and respect of The People. "These are the ancient societies and groups that have always defended and protected Cybertron and her people from injustice and tyranny within and without. The first is led by Heatout, the philosopher and leader of the Circle of Light, a pacifist group with huge numbers of members both here and on Cybertron. Next is Splice representing the Knights of Cybertron. He's also Circle and an Autobot soldier. Behind him carrying the banner for the Primus Peace Mission or the Missionaries as they're called, a group that opposed tyranny on Cybertron through peaceful resistance is Breezy who is also a clan elder and leader with the Seekers. All of them who follow are leaders among these groups.
"The next two banners belong to small religious sects that have great standing among the peace movers. The last one is given pride of place by being there. Its a small sect that has been around since the beginning and who holds the secrets of the Thirteen, whatever that might mean. They provided no more information than that including its name," he said glancing at the others. "They make special things, know the codes and wonders of the Thirteen and have Their confidence. I'm not sure what it means but it must be major because coming at the end of your group here is a status thing. That mech is a relative of Ironhide, his 'amma'. That's the designation of their relationship."
The group walked past trailed by Turbine who was with a youngster named Philo. He was also a part of his sect just arrived and was asked among this tiny group that was mostly made up of his family to honor Turbine in this manner. Among them as a Maker, Turbine was considered a holy personage. They passed before the cameras.
And still they came.
-0-Soundwave
He walked in the middle of his group put there by Springer's suggestion. He would be riding in the street on one side of that group while Drift rode on the other to anticipate trouble. So far, so good. The looks Soundwave was getting were expected but no one jumped out to thrash him. The moment was holding. Far ahead, Prime walked with a measured pace, the gleaming hilt of the sword glistening on his back. Everyone took measured paces, a slow march of great solemnity as they walked through the massive throngs of citizens that lined every street and occupied every nook and cranny, leaning out of windows all along the route.
Behind him, the group lengthened as more joined it, stepping out of the tower to follow him. Behind the sects were the military units, fabled ones both still standing and not, Seekers, grounders, small and large, they were all represented. Then the big frames stepped out as the crowd gasped their pride and delight.
Typhoon and Metroplex, both of them gleaming, led the way as the nine children, two of them holding images of Swan and Teatro followed. The infants were physically too big, both too young to transform or use pretender tech and too excitable to join in. Behind them, a long line of titans in pretender tech followed, half of them from Cybertron and all of those that were here on Mars including the dreads and Tennyson who was on station at the rift. They streamed out followed by the entire family of Omega. They were solemn and beautiful as they walked. Kappa was at the head of their line holding their banner as Clipper did at the head of the titans. They passed silently through the pathway to follow the others forward.
Behind them, stepping out from the open parkland between Prime's tower and the Medical tower, four mounted Watch mechs rode glistening horses. They were Lon, Bezel, Kup, and Hercy riding side-by-side to bring up the rear. As they passed, the crowd by the tower gathered to follow. The hole was closed as the massed group walked forward with them. As the horsemen rode past, the crowd merged behind them. Few could go very far forward but no one would be able to go back. The crowd was coming together in solidarity.
The sun was warm on their neural nets even as the temperature hovered around -65 degrees. The sound of peds falling, the muffled speech of the crowd and the clopping of horse's hooves were the sounds that the broadcast picked up. Otherwise, it was strangely quiet.
"I don't know if we ever had a crowd that big that it would be that quiet even for a funeral," the narrator said as the panel watched.
Colonel Barstow glanced at him. "They're aliens, you know. Things are different but there's one thing in common between us. They feel sorrow deeply too. If you want to know them as they are, know that they have a soul just like us. This is a terrible event in a long history of terrible events. What you see is real sorrow." He stared at the screen. "I wish I was there," he said wistfully.
He wouldn't be the only one.
-0-Resort of Autobot City
They filled the theater, lounges and the concourse watching the show together. Huge monitors were playing the scenes outside which they could see with binoculars and other enhanced devices. The size of the crowd was stupefying. The humans in the building would lose a day of sightseeing but they would be here for history.
Most of them considered that a worthy trade off.
-0-TBC 7-6-17 edited 7-11-17