The Diego Diaries: Trials and Tribulations (dd6 430)
The room was quiet once again.
Optimus was quietly thinking, whether in concert with the Matrix or not, then he turned his gaze upon Blackstone and the defendants. "Blackstone, I have considered your statement and I am going to deny your assertion. Even though I am a party to the actions that are being declared here, I find that in union with the Matrix that this is not going to be a significant problem for these defendants. The witnesses are speaking from their experiences about what they saw, did and what happened to them. Perhaps as Orion Pax, there might be a problem with me as hearing officer. However, I never make decisions of this magnitude without the presence of the Matrix whether It speaks directly to me or not. Also, given that this is a hearing with special circumstances, the opportunities for me to act on any feelings I might have on these matters are rendered nil. The Pantheon and the Matrix once invoked into a hearing will not allow the hearing to run falsely. Their integrity is above reproach even if mine might be called into question."
"I'm not calling your integrity into question, Lord Optimus," Blackstone said. "I am advocating fully for my clients and having a participant as hearing officer for events that impacted him as well … you can understand my concerns."
"I do," Prime said. "I thereby grant to these hearings and trials my personal oath as a warrior, as a Cybertronian mech and as the Matrix Bearer my absolute intentions to be impartial and fair. I do swear this on the lives of my children."
Blackstone nodded. "Thank you, sir."
Contrail glanced at Decimus, then Decimus to Blackstone. "You accept that? Is that all?"
"I do," Blackstone said. "I do with this Prime."
The two stared at him, then Prime with anger but they didn't say more.
Coln who watched then turned back to Magnus. "Commander, tell me about Tarn and Vos, what happened to the best of your ability and what resulted in the action."
"We were given intelligence through the Knights and Circle who were getting population into ships to leave. They weren't able to get to Tarn or Vos given the security net both cities threw up against the other. The city magistrate of District 147-BC, a mech I knew from meetings before named Carbide of Tarn got a message to me that both of them, Contrail and Ratbat were arguing with the city leaders of Tarn that Vos was going to launch a missile strike against them and they had better step up. He said they held meetings with Tarn officials and when they were over, Contrail flew with Ratbat to Vos.
"He said that a friend in the administration of Vos was frantically trying to get help because he feared that a fight was going to break out through the agitation of both of these mechs and that people would be annihilated. I got the intel to Optimus who was organizing the defense of the cities in the east. We weren't able to prevent it though we put CPU resources and some of our armed forces into evacuating population of both sides. We even tried to get a message to the Great Elder but communications were fragged by then. It was too little too late. They launched warheads and landed them on each other.
"Carbide who made it out later told me that he heard Contrail taking a message from Megatron and that the purpose of the entire adventure was to divert Autobot resources from other areas and to shift the blame for all of it to us and the Iacon Autobots," Magnus said.
"Is Carbide still alive?" Coln asked.
"I have a tracer put into the system for him," Magnus replied.
"What happened with Contrail after this?" Coln asked.
"He went over to the Decepticons, though I had my personal suspicions that he worked for Megatron in the Senate," Magnus said.
"Objection. Is there proof?" Blackstone asked.
"Given that he went from the Matrix declaration for Orion to Vos and Tarn to foment this atrocity, its not a hard reach. We are going through the records of the Senate to restore them."
"But you don't have them now," Blackstone said.
"No," Magnus said.
"I will accept that they became Decepticons, Commander, but when they did will remain an open question until such time as hard evidence demonstrates that," Optimus said.
"But they did become Decepticons," Coln said.
"Yes," Magnus replied. "There were many occasions that we had them in our sights, then they disappeared about the time war finally broke out in earnest. Given how fast they disappeared off the radar, it was then that Sentinel left Cybertron with them because he had been declared dead and had the mourning period in place just before Orion became Prime. It all dovetailed into the other."
"I have no further questions at this time," Coln said as he sat.
Blackstone considered Magnus. "Commander, did you ever see bribes given to either of my clients, or see them give bribes to others?"
"No, not personally," Magnus replied.
"Did they ever speak about any allegiances to the Decepticons as members of the Senate to you personally?"
"No. The most they ever said was to express a sense of admiration for the brutality that Megatron brought to his actions."
"Admiration for someone's actions no matter how abhorrent does not mean collaboration," Blackstone said.
"No, but it makes it easier when they do," Magnus replied.
Blackstone stared at him, weighed the benefit of sparring with Magnus, then sat back. "No more questions."
Magnus stepped down, then walked to Arcee to sit next to her and the others. Jetta was back inside and sat with a dark and emotional expression. :Jetta." He looked at Magnus. :I don't think you need to be here:
:I have to. For everyone who isn't:
The door opened as Neo walked in with a grave expression on her face. She took the stand, the oath then turned toward Coln. She bowed lowly, then waited.
"Neo, you were a member of the Council of Ancients. What can you tell me about the defendants and your personal experiences with them, some of which weren't exactly the most ethically driven," Coln said.
She hung her helm a moment, then turned to Prime. "I was a different femme then. I was unworthy of being allowed to be free. I am grief stricken over it and will give the truth no matter how much it might harm me now. I owe it to The People and to history."
"Neo, you are welcome in our congregation," Prime said in a formal manner. It meant forgiveness was a given and all that mattered was who she was now.
She smiled at him, then bowed low. Turning to Coln, she began. "I was a very wealthy legacy having inherited my positions through family connections. That I was well enough educated and literate to be there on my own is of no consequence. There were others as well and they weren't allowed by caste. Heatout was an outstanding example. I was acquainted with both defendants, though I didn't care much for either. They were grasping, money driven and without conscience. Given that I was no better than them then, I guess one could call into question my remarks. But I swear on the Matrix that my testimony shall be true.
"I witnessed many times when they took bribes to do this or that thing in the Senate. They were among the worst offenders for selling their votes, the two of them and Ratbat. Like the rest of us, they had little concern for The People. Their lives were so remote and removed none of us could imagine them. I didn't. I even demanded the Clampdown be increased in severity as some kind of way to crush opposition to our comfortable paradigm. I never looked, I never questioned, I never opposed. I was a very great fool surrounded by liars, bribe takers and those who didn't love anyone but themselves and their own comforts. You can include me as well.
"I was aware of the shortcuts that Decimus used in creating mines, shortcuts that killed mechs. I was aware of him leaving them in the ground. I was on the Ancients and we concerned ourselves with the Matrix and matters of religion. We didn't have control we would say if asked about the Senate but if we had opposed them we would have changed things. Contrail had open sympathies to the Decepticons and so did Decimus. They were friendly to Megatron's suggestions and desires and didn't oppose them. They did as much as they could to encourage others to, if not join them, then to not be a roadblock to their machinations. Ratbat was working openly around us with Megatron accepting bribes and offers of position in the brave new world that was going to come. I heard him talk about it, friends told me and I heard him myself.
"No one really pretended toward the end. When Sentinel was supposedly murdered I thought that the end was near. What most of us did was prepare our exit." She looked a desolation. "It was so cowardly and wrong. I'm so aggrieved. Ratbat, Decimus and Contrail disappeared before the Matrix chose you, Lord Optimus. We didn't know where they were and we couldn't find them. They were working with Megatron to disable the world for him to conquer. I saw cables to friends who showed them to me, messages that talked about them coming over. They had begun to destabilize Vos and Tarn.
"I know the Senate was frantic to deal with this and to install even more repression. The Council wanted to manipulate the Matrix to help and utilize the AllSpark against the entire spectrum of agitation but I argued strenuously against it. They were holy. They would do what They wanted. Nothing good would come of it. All of it was frantic, then Vos and Tarn obliterated each other. It was as shocking a moment as I can remember." It was silent a moment, then she hung her helm. "We decided to see what could happen with Optimus Prime and if nothing looked good, we would leave the world and find sanctuary somewhere else. Like cowards." She looked at everyone, her anguish clearly seen on her beautiful face. "We were cowards! We fled! We should have stayed to fight! But we didn't."
"You saw bribes. You saw the defendants take bribes, heard them talk about their acts of criminality and treason, then?" Coln asked.
She nodded. "I did. They were working hard for Megatron and didn't hide it. I heard their comments and I saw them try to influence others to join them. They took bribes and talked about it openly. They told me that I should join them, that the Matrix was a huge bargaining chip for negotiations. Megatron wanted the AllSpark and the Matrix and there was a lot to be given by helping. I was completely offended." She shook her helm. "That offended me. Nothing else but that. What a different person I was then."
It was quiet a moment, then Coln sat down. "Neo, tell me what happened when Sentinel Prime was killed."
"I heard about it at my home and called as many as I could to find out information about it. The Matrix was located and brought to the Councilor Chambers. I was frantic to make sure It was safe. We went to the Imperium, all of us and we had a strongly worded conversation with the Senators there. They were going to inter Sentinel without autopsy, something that shocked me. I argued that they had to have one because there would be legitimacy issues if we didn't know what had happened and we also had to know if the Decepticons were responsible.
"They told me I had no jurisdiction over the matter and ordered all of us to leave. We demanded the Matrix and received it. We were prepared to fight them for It. We took It, ascertained It's legitimacy, then left. All was in chaos. Sentinel was taken, I was told, to the Basilica and enclosed in a Primal sarcophagus. Ratchet and Prowl went, I was also told, but were turned away. It was a very unorthodox and unlawful internment. The announcement was made and the mourning ordered, though the situation was by then in terminal velocity. I had no idea that he and some of his cronies had escaped to do whatever it was they were heading out to do." She stood quietly on the stand, looking tiny but determined.
"You can state truthfully that the charges against Decimus and Contrail regarding bribes, corruption, collusion with the enemy, and the other charges including treason are founded? War crimes as well?" Coln asked.
"I can attest to corruption, bribery, collusion with the enemy, the fact that I know that they were in Vos and Tarn fomenting war and causing death and murder on a grand scale during the time in question. I saw the data and I talked to those involved. They desserted to the enemy completely after Optimus Prime ascended to Primeship and worked in concert with Megatron to undermine the government within. All of these things I saw myself because the number of those who could do anything was dwindling and we were among them," she said firmly.
"Very well," Coln said as he sat.
Blackstone stared at Neo who he liked greatly and served with on the Senior Civilian and Autobot Committee. She would be caring for his new grandson when the baby entered school. He and she were friends. "Neo, you were a part of this. How many of those crimes do you personally claim for yourself? I don't ask for prurient interests. I ask because you are a witness in a trial involving my clients."
She stared at him, this friend who was dear to her and understood his predicament and hers. "I claim for myself, Blackstone, a cold spark. I claim indifference to suffering and an intention of coldness that led me to do and assist terrible things which were crimes as well. I did not want the war. I didn't want the end of our world but I was part of what happened to cause it. There are many things that can be laid at my feet. I accept them as my part. If I had been different, I might have been jailed with Jetta and kept my word and my honor for our people, with Heatout and the others. Your bond, even, Barron. I would have shared a cell with Alto but I wasn't that femme. I was something so alien to me now that it feels like two lives were lived in my body. When Primus told me that I was forgiven, it was something I can't explain but it even more made clear to me that no matter what happens to me, I have to tell the truth. If that harms me in the course of trying to be that femme now and forever, then I must endure it."
Blackstone nodded. "I have no other questions for Neo."
She turned to Prime who nodded. She bowed lowly, then stepped down to walk to the door.
"Neo."
She turned to Prime, hesitating by the others in the audience.
"You are welcome in the congregation," Prime said. The others, Coln and Blackstone nodded in agreement.
She looked at them with anguish and emotion on her face, then turned to the others, especially Jetta who she loved. He nodded to her as did the others. She felt tears in her optics as she bowed to all of them, her spark filled with emotion. "I am filled with gratitude." Then she walked out the door held open by Springer who nodded to her and it closed silently behind her.
-0-TBC 8-2-18 edited 8-11-18