The Diego Diaries: The Beginning (dd6 269)
-0-In a court room
The door opened as several mechs entered, all of them ordered to be there. They were Lucien, Keystock, Cargo, Traachon, and Waldeen. Behind them with a grim expression was Ironhide, Blackjack and Raptor. They took seats in the back as the big mechs walked toward the wall benches where they sat with Ratchet, Jarro and Rung. The five were ordered to come as part of their parole plan and told if they made a scene they would be jailed at the Prime's Pleasure. Their release then would be at that moment when Optimus cooled off enough to entertain the possibility.
If he ever did.
Heatout continued. "He wanted to see and experience the INTERPRETATION of His Creation … that is, He wished to see what He had wrought through the optics of those who would live in and among all that existed. He created Unicron to do so and when it was clear that unbridled unchecked nihilism and chaos untempered by reason was destroying all that had been made, The One knew that there would be no peace but only destruction. From the spark of Unicron, He created a twin, Primus. They were yin to yang, dark to light, destruction to creation. The One, Prime Source, watched Them battle, considering all that He saw.
"Because Primus is a multi-universal singularity and could exist in all universes and dimensions at the same time, He evaded and battled Unicron with great skill because Unicron can exist in only one at a time. He had to find Primus and that became His great Cause. Sparing all that was around Him, He gave endless chase. However, the destruction was still vast when They met in combat. Their sparks evenly matched so the outcome was always even. it was then that Primus removed Himself after creating the Primes to do what He couldn't. He would slumber so that Unicron would not find Him and They would do the deed that couldn't be done by Him alone against the equal perfection of His brother. The Primes were various in design and skill. They were formulated from both so They held the negative attributes of Unicron as well as the Love and Light of Primus. The light and the dark, they, too, shared. Between Them, They would do what He couldn't. Thirteen, who had a spark most perfectly like that of Primus was to be the key. Thirteen would be placed close to Unicron's spark and because His was most like that of Primus, Unicron would be compelled to fall into stasis, too.
"The battles were terrible, some were grievously wounded but They prevailed. Unicron was defeated at last. Then we all know the next part where the Primes, tainted by Unicron's presence, battled each other with many dying. There came next the formatting and populating of Cybertron by us. There are many versions and many interpretations. I won't tell you about them. We are intending instead to go to the place in our history where things went wrong.
"During the chaos of the Patterner Period, the Quintessans, a vile alien species were watching and waiting for that moment when they could come into the struggle, present themselves as the solution, then put everyone in their reach into slavery. It was slow and steady, the pacification of The People, and then it was too late. They were the overlords with assistance from some among us who either were drawn in through trickery or their own personal avarice and desire for power. The Quintessans overtook the law, the dissemination of information, all production, and instituted a renegade policing force. The warlords and warriors of the chaos period were outlawed and hunted. Power was consolidated and soon, it was too late.
"The Well during that time was the greatest source of individual sparks and for some reason, they began to come without names. They were drone-like in their affect and were pushed into work that suited their size and capability. Those who were data bots were of less value than those with rare formats or some more specialized purpose. Thus, they were given less value in the society because of it. But all was not lost. Resistance was always there, deep in the population and among those brave enough to organize the future battles for freedom that such an appalling life almost dictated.
"This is the place where I step aside for the Exempts to tell their story," Heatout said with a bow. He stepped down, then Hard Drive stood. Walking to the box with great dignity, he stepped up, was sworn in by Prowl, then bowed to Prime. "It would be now that the accused should come and listen," Hardie said quietly.
Prime nodded, the bailiff leaned out, then stepped back. They came in, the twelve of the Council and the 22 others who were accused as well. They were eerie and strange, their single optic silent affect something never considered attractive among The People. That it should be the form used for empurata was no accident, it would seem. They walked in, took their seats, then faced forward silently. Hardie stared at them. "I am Hard Drive, General of the Army of Cybertron and the Empire, leader of a caste which was created to curb excesses of those like you, exempt mech, and one of the leaders of the Resistance against the Quintessan Enslavement during the Age of Wrath.
"I was designated HRD-DRV, eventually an information bot whose entire life purpose according to the slave masters who held us in thrall was to create data systems and build them for their convenience. I had been switched from ship painting to this work because it was a practice to do so. When you would fail, which was expected, you ended up in their arenas fighting to the death. It was their sport. They had no idea who we really were and what we could do and know. They never looked that closely at their property and what they did and learned to do when no one was looking. That I was good at data systems was my secret saving grace at the time. It allowed me to travel and network with others. I was fond of Delphi, my bond now. He was the same designation as myself and learned to be very good at penetrating systems for nefarious purposes. He had the math and he had the skills. He was so skilled that he was slated to be sold to an alien corporation and taken away.
"A number of us with Delphi included had been organizing a resistance against the Quintessans. When it was clear that Delphi would be sold away, we launched it. We shut down the entire grid of Cybertron and destroyed their communications and control. That was when the war really began. It began in Iacon and Praxus, then spread across the world. Those who are also exempt have their stories to tell. Chromo and Wirelite, please explain your great courage during this time of tribulation." Hardie glanced at Prowl. "Please swear them all in. They will tell their stories now."
Chromo, Wirelite, Hercy, Alejate, Elba, Cezr, and Delphi stood and were sworn. Everyone sat down but Chromo and Wirelite. Wirelite looked up at Chromo. "You tell them, Only One."
Chromo squeezed her servo, then looked at Prime. "We were house drones, both of us. It shouldn't have been a surprise that we served Megatron at The Residence when he was there. We are very good workers," he said with a trace of pride. Wirelite smiled and nodded. "We were their care givers and we learned their languages, though they never knew the entire extent. They believed we knew only simple commands for needs and wants. We had to steal their codes so that Hardie and the others could break them. Wirelite, she went into their computers and took them. It was so incredibly dangerous. We would have ended up in the tanks with the Sharkticons if we were caught. But we weren't," he said proudly. "We were saboteurs. We blew up the grid in Iacon. Then we fled and blew up communications systems, short circuited a lot of tech and took down weapons systems. Wirelite is a weaver, you know. We both know how to built up, breach and tear things down and we did. We did it gratefully." He looked at Hardie, then nodded. Both sat.
"Alejate and Elba, tell them what greatness you achieved for The People," Hardie said quietly.
The two stood, then bowed to Prime. "General Hard Drive was such a great leader. He and the others, they saved everyone but we all worked together. We did all we could together, equally. We all shared the dangers and the punishments if caught. There was never a greater time to live but then. Sentinel Zeta Prime was a good Prime. He was our leader but Hard Drive was our general. We worked in the transportation of goods and services. I was a router and Elba was a data specialist. We sent things to the wrong place, canceled others and derailed the shipping system. We sent guns and bombs to the Resistance and not the crooked police. We blew up ships and trains, underground systems, and ambushed truck convoys. We destroyed their ability to fight us. We aren't sorry either," Alejate said as Elba nodded in agreement. "I love Sentinel Zeta Prime because he was aware and fought back but you are the Prime I waited my whole life for, Optimus Prime. I would do it again for you." He bowed, Elba did, too, then both sat down again.
"Cezr, dear friend," Hard Drive said quietly.
A mini-con of great age and humor stood, then bowed to Prime and Hardie. "I was your aide for a while, Hardie. I carried a lot of messages for you to others in the Resistance. I was also a sniper. I killed a lot of Quintessans. I know that's not a good thing to say, killing someone like that, but I did. I stalked them. I shot them orn and night. I sniped the collaborators. I carried messages everywhere because the grid went down. I never worried about myself. I only worried for others. I wanted to be free. I met everyone in this room and they're precious to me. They're my other family. All of us live for those who didn't. I wish you could know how I felt after all that danger and all that suffering, to see the Functionalists and then the System rise up. I could have gone hunting again." He looked at the audience. "You have no decency. You have no sense of history. How dare you look down on us? We freed your lives from slavery. No one could go some of the places we went." He looked at Hardie. "It's good to be here, General, and live the life we all deserve. I will fight if you need me if it ever changes." He bowed, then sat.
"Commander Hercy," Hard Drive said. He grinned slightly. "Recruit."
Hercy stood, then bowed to Prime and Hardie. "I was a hard headed kid heading for the scrap heap when the battles broke out. I was marked as 'malfunctioning' because I resisted the slag. I was corralled with all the others who were self aware and ready to go to war. We weren't useful so they were going to smelt us. They smelted us alive, you know. The Quintessans made films of it and showed them at their parties and gatherings. The fraggers were going to smelt me. I still have the marks on my armor," he said turning his arm to show a strange set of letters written in white. "I never removed them so I wouldn't forget. I was only a few orns from being killed with the fighting broke out.
"We overpowered our guards, then went out in gangs to kill anything that stood in our way. I was a sniper. I got really good at taking out slaggers over distance. We roved in gangs until the General here, he and the bond got it organized. We killed them in numbers and we would have gotten them all but they fled like cowards. Those who couldn't didn't live to see the next orn. We freed ourselves and we weren't going back. Its COWARDLY AND INSULTING TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DIED TO FREE EVERYONE that the SYSTEM should have come back. EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM IS THE DESCENDANT OF SLAVES! Only the courage of a few made that end.
"YOU DESECRATE THEIR MEMORY WITH YOUR CASTE SLAG! No one is better than any other. We were made in the same way. We have the same dreams. NO ONE IS BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE! ALL ARE ONE MEANS EVERYONE!" He turned to stare at the mechs in the back row. "We shed energon to make sure that the world would be free and everyone was equal. You and your ideas are alien, treason and in opposition to The One. You betray everything that it means to be Cybertronian. You should be on your hands and knees thanking us that we HAD THE BEARINGS TO THROW OFF THEIR CHAINS! IF WE DIDN'T YOU WOULD STILL BE A SLAVE!"
He turned toward Hard Drive. "I will never forget the orn when we saw you and the bond coming over the hill with the flag of Cybertron and a sword in your hand. You were driving the enemy toward us, the remnants of the police around Helex. I will never forget the first time we met. We were free at last, our chains were broken and the world was ours. THEN WHAT HAPPENED! SLAGGERS PICKED UP THE QUINTESSAN'S SLAG AND IT ALL BEGAN AGAIN!" He turned to the mechs in the last row. "FRAG YOU AND YOUR ALIEN SLAVERY! I WILL ALWAYS FIGHT YOU! I WILL NEVER BE A SLAVE AGAIN! FRAGGERS! TOO BAD YOU DIDN'T FEEL HOW THAT FELT! YOU FRAGGERS NEVER SAW A SLAVE AUCTION! FRAG YOU AND YOUR AIRS! YOU'RE LESS A MECH THAN ANYONE IN THIS ROOM BECAUSE YOU DON'T LOVE CYBERTRON AND HER PEOPLE ENOUGH TO STEP AWAY FROM THE QUINTESSAN POISON!"
Hercy looked at the group, staring hard at everyone sitting in the audience. "I've learned over the vorns to let some things go but not all of it. I'm a warrior but I didn't start out that way. I STARTED OUT AS A SLAVE! Anyone who supports that, anyone who would hold anyone of us down is my enemy." He turned to Prime and bowed low. "Sentinel Zeta Prime was my first. He was good and smart. But you're the best one. I tell you that as someone who has seen everyone of them. It's an honor to serve you and to live in a society that you lead. And you, General … you and the bond. It's on your shoulders that all of us stand." He sat down again and it was silent for a moment.
Hardie nodded to Hercy and he nodded back. "Delphi?" he asked in a soft voice.
Delphi stood and bowed to Prime. "You know some of our story now but you miss the details. You cannot know what it means to be nothing but equipment. I was due to be sold and but for my mech, I don't know where I'd be. I was prepared to fight to the death, maybe even go to the Sharkticon tanks before I was prepared to be sold. You never saw that spectacle, any of you. You never saw and heard the despair. Because SOME OF US are prepared to do all the SLAG, you never will. I will die and I will kill everyone I love before that ever happens to them again.
"As for you, you supercilious parasites … your ancestors were slaves, too. All of us here, Wirelite, Chromo, Hercy, Cezr, Elba, Alejate, Hard Drive, and me … we were called The Immortals by our people then. All of us who still live carry the worst memories of our people's terroristic past. I wish you could know how we've all felt watching the Functionalists pick up what the Quintessans started, then have it compounded by The System of Exception." He looked at the last row where Lucien and the others sat. "You're the biggest, saddest frauds I've ever seen. You don't know anything." He turned to Prime, bowed, then sat.
Hardie began again. "The following orns after the rebellion were an orgy of revenge though we tried to stop it. Our people were so traumatized that they nearly burned the world to the ground. Then they had to pick up again and they were ripe for anyone who could restore order and some sense of freedom. Con men came and they used religion to restore the same damned thing. When you were driven off and we did," he said staring at the Functionalists, "the next layer of liars took over and The System of Exception was laid down. It has nearly destroyed us completely." He looked at Prime. "The Praxian Military Elites were formed to stop the mess as best we could. We tried and I wish we could have done more. What we can do now is stand by you, Prime, and our people. We do. I, Hard Drive of Praxus, senior Praxian Military Elite pledge my life and honor to the Prime of Cybertron." He turned to Prime and bowed his helm. "Command me."
Prime nodded back. "I accept your pledge with gratitude, Hard Drive of Praxus."
Hardie nodded, then stepped down. He walked to his seat and sat beside Delphi, taking his servo for a moment. It was silent as a tomb.
Prime glanced at Prowl who was organizing. "Continue, please."
"Heatout, we need information about the Functionalist Tyranny," Prowl said as he stared coldly at the unknowable figures before him.
"I would ask Neo to speak to that. The history of oppression is her specialty." He looked at Neo. "I mean that only in the academic sense, my dear friend."
Neo looked at him, then nodded. "It could apply both ways."
"Not now, my dear Neo," Heatout said.
Neo looked at him with the most grateful expression, then walked to the stand where she bowed to Prime and took the oath. Turning to the group, she vented a sigh. "I wish to tell you about the Functionalist Tyranny. When the chaos was starting to subside, groups in power and those gathering it began to coalesce around the idea that form greeted function. It was only a tiny step up from what we already knew. It felt like freedom but it wasn't. The greatest outcomes of effort were channeled to the same few. This was the birth of the Golden Age.
"Because there were so many individuals and because commerce was skyrocketing with inventions, creations and workers working hard to provide material goods for all, the effects of our slavery were not taken into account. The rush to build a society for ourselves that was great and magnificent took precedent. We were beginning our age of greatest exploration and space bridges were being worked out and built. We ended up colonizing hundreds of worlds, terraforming them if needed into our own little Cybertrons, meeting demands for everything but our social well being. The slave attitudes about place were digging deeper and deeper into our psyches, traumatized by war, strife and deprivation. It was almost inevitable that the slavery would come back in another form.
"This time, they used 'science' and 'studies into the nature of our being' to solidify the caste system that was picked up and refined by the Functionalist movement. Your form dictated your function. Again, the will and desire of individuals was cast aside in the dictatorship of functionalism. The book that codified the system, making it seem scientific and rational, the Great Cybertron Taxonomy was wielded like a hammer. If you wanted to do what you wanted but it was outside your designated societal placement, you were arrested and imprisoned, your efforts destroyed and you were sometimes even murdered. It was a prison without bars for billions over many generations.
"At last, the same impulse to be free overthrew the Functionalists and they fled after eons of oppression and destruction of dreams and lives. Where they went, no one knew. We were then tasked with trying again but it failed. It always failed. One cannot underestimate the lure of power and fortune for some and we had never addressed the impact that slavery had on all of us. As time passed, the System of Exception became the new prison. Never were we allowed to be who we really were. Even in the Golden Age when religion and religious fervor erupted in a major way among The People, it only flourished more. 'Until all are one' became a meaningless tool of the state to bend everyone to their will. Your patriotism was suspect if you didn't go along with the state. The military grew and became another arm of the government to hold everyone down. As cracks in the system, as energy became scarce, it only got worse.
"It was inevitable that Megatron would arise. What was also inevitable was the response to him that the government made. They had no idea of the pressures The People were under with this oppression. It was inevitable that our great people would have to suffer again as they threw off the chains that had never really come off. Megatron was a primal scream by our people against tyranny. It's astonishing to me that there was someone great, strong and wise enough to hear it and change the world forever," she said as she looked at Optimus. "I am grateful every orn for the life I lead and the chance to make amends for the terrible deeds I created and participated in. We are for the first time in our entire history free and its only because of you. Thank you, Optimus Prime, for the chance to say so." She bowed deeply, then stepped down. Taking her seat, she leaned against Heatout who squeezed her servo.
"Lord Chrome, you and Lord Lauren are here to address religious questions. Do you have anything to say at this time?" Prowl asked.
Chrome glanced at Lauren, then Prowl. "We would like to speak later when the subject gets closer to us. We are here to address religious questions and support our great colleague, Master Cyclonus. If there are direct questions by the Prime or the two sides of this issue, we will answer them now. It would appear that there is some confusion about the concept of 'until all are one' even yet among our people."
Prowl nodded. "I will note that, gentlemen." He glanced at Cyclonus. "Master, do you wish to speak at this moment in the informational segment of the proceedings?"
Cyclonus nodded, then stood. "I do," he said as he stepped forward. Taking the stand and the oath, he looked at the gathering. "It is difficult to look at you, you who would take that which is sacred to millions and turn it into blasphemy. There is only one creed that holds true among all our people and that is the idea of 'until all are one'. It is more than a call to mutual identity and purpose. It is the sacred bond between all of us and the Pantheon. It is the tie that binds us to Primus and The One. The idea of standing on Cybertron, the actual body of our greatest lord is sacred. Primus is sacred. There is little in my thinking that holds as strongly than the protection and veneration of Cybertron. We live on the body of a GOD! He gives us EVERYTHING! It belongs to ALL OF US! How you could believe that this could be any other way astonishes me. I have read your histories and books. I have studied your films and found astonishment at the blasphemy therein and still, I cannot see how you can say you believe in Prima and the Guiding Hand. You have nothing in common with their goals and will.
"I once was a Decepticon, a lieutenant of Megatron himself. I fought many battles and I won most of them. I did it FOR CYBERTRON! I did it to free our world and our people from the tyranny of slavery that you and your perversions represent. There are many of our belief who talk to me about their fear that we will be tainted by your stink. You were never a part of the Monastery and its life. You were never really a part of Cybertron. You were a parasite feeding off the body of PRIMUS, HIMSELF!
"I am here for Cybertron and I am here for the Guiding Hand. I serve both with all my spark. I also serve Prime. He has the difficulty of helping the rest of us separate ourselves from you. If I had my own way, I'd kill all of you myself. Good thing I am not Prime," he said before he turned to Optimus. "I will answer any questions you may have about what we are and what we do and allow. Thank you," he said with a slight bow. He walked menacingly to his seat and sat.
It was dense in the room as Prime waited for Prowl to finish his notations. Prowl looked at Prime. "We have had the informational portion of this hearing and we are ready for the trial itself."
Prime nodded. "Very well. Coln-2, you have the floor."
Coln who looked as solemn as anyone in the room nodded, then stood. He began formally. "I am Coln-2. I represent those who have no voice. I represent Cybertron and our people. I have the duty to tell their tale," he began.
-0-TBC 2-9-18 edited 2-10-18 edited 2-24-18
HERE YOU GO! I am weaving a lot of strands together for the history here. Most of it is canon but the order might be slightly different. I am fitting a lot of stuff into a long form story so … :D:D:D:D:D
All was not lost last night and this morning. I found two other reference books for the story. :D:D:D:D
Given that Thirteen was the spark most like Primus of all of Them, its no wonder that He became Optimus Prime. :D