The Diego Diaries: Trials and Tribulations (dd6 436)

-0-Courtroom

They began to gather both inside the courtroom and in the hallways around it. There were many there who would be testifying against Sentinel. They were functionaries and others including criminals and former Decepticons who had dealings with him. It would be a long list that Coln had created. Some would be testifying and others were there just in case they were called. They included Hercy, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Lucien, Prowl, himself, and Venture among others. There was even a rumor that Larken of Galaxy Industries would be compelled to testify. They sat or stood around the space, leaning on the walls, waiting tensely even as they chatted together.

Prime and Prowl had arrived early, heading in with Coln-2, Blackstone, Barron, Highrode, No-a, Semi, and the various team members of each. The door closed behind them. Ratchet wandered in with Ironhide and his adult family, sharing Prowler, Halo, Hero, Praxus, and Orion. They were playing hooky. It would be a crap shoot when the Pantheon would show up but the buzz and betting among the punters was this wouldn't go to a full trial. If that was so, various elders were going to make sure that their children and grandchildren had a chance to see the gods.

Again.

Ratchet set Hero down with Halo and watched as Hero took her servo. They smiled at each other, then Hero carefully took her around introducing her to all the mechs and femmes who were there. It was as cute as it got, two tiny twigs going from giant bot to giant bot with huge smiles. Almost like the night before, Ratchet thought …

"Why are you crying, Ada?" Ratchet asked as he sat between his parents with his arms around them. "I thought you'd be happy."

"I AM HAPPY, SONNY!" Ravel wailed.

Tie Down who was wiping his own optics grinned at his son. "This is so wonderful. I always hoped She'd be pleased. You do know we have Forge tattoos, right?" he asked as he turned his arm to show a tiny Forge like the one traditional to Solus Prime. "She's our patron. Your ada collected her figurines and little forges. We kept one over the kiln and still do even here," he said.

"I know. I look for new ones for you. I just think you shouldn't be surprised," Ratchet said. "You do what you do and no one does it better."

"WE TRY!" Ravel said as he wept. He was happy. He was also overwhelmed that a goddess of the Pantheon that he loved would even know he existed. He had forgotten that Solus knew about everyone. All of Them did. It was a long and happy conversation in the apartment that night.

-0-Courthouse corridor

"I see that they're playing hooky," Hercy said with a grin. The tiny femmes had greeted him, then moved onward to meet everyone, some of whom Hero didn't know. "Little femme sure takes care of her sister."

"She does," Ratchet said as he sat. "She's not so tense and messed up with Halo around."

"Then its all for the good," Hercy said as the door opened and Springer leaned out.

"Anyone coming to watch should come in now unless you're a witness. We'll call you as needed," he said as Ratchet and Ironhide rose along with his family. Hero and Halo along with the others were parted out and stuffed into well appointed carry holds for the duration or lunch whichever came first. They entered, then took a seat.

Prime entered from the back with Prowl, Semi and No-a, then sat. Everyone stood as he did, then sat. Prowl gave The Talk, then took a moment for business before it was time for questions to start. Coln would pick up the Prime's Brief from the orn before. "I would like to call Lucien of Iacon."

Springer leaned out and called Lucien who came in looking shuttered and slightly uncomfortable. It was a huge diversion from his usual impeccably unknowable self. He took the oath, then turned toward Coln. It was silent a moment, then Coln-2 began. "Lucien, you were part of the Justice Department and had a hand in the treatment of dissidents and others from the Peace Movement and Resistance."

"Yes."

"What do you know about the Clampdown and how it was implemented during the reign of Sentinel Prime?"

Lucien thought a moment, then took the straight road that was paved with truth. This was so far out of his control and comfort zone, nothing would benefit him from doing other. "Sentinel and the Council as his inner circle were called decided that the Clampdown instituted by Nominus would and should be applied as hard and as thoroughly as necessary following his accession. It was already very bad but he made it worse. He and the others were under the impression that turning the screws harder would somehow be effective."

"What about you?" -C2

"I didn't think so. I told all of them in consultation that pouring gasoline on a raging fire wasn't the way to contain the explosion that inevitably followed," he said. "No one was interested. I won't gloss myself over. I was … malleable as well, but there are some things that are true and beating a targ that's looking back at you with his teeth bared is stupid."

"What was your role with dissidents?" -C2

"I ran the apparatus that gathered intelligence on them and their activities. I managed the dossiers of their behavior, plotted what might happen from their networking, worked out and invaded their communications … I was in charge of discovering the extent of their efforts and how to counter them."

"How did you feel about what was happening then? About the repression of the state against The People?" -C2

Lucien thought a moment. "Not much at the time. It was what we did. We repressed, oppressed and jailed anyone would could get our hands on. I didn't have the same point of view then that I have now. Now I can see what it was and how it all happened. Then? It was like living in a blizzard and only seeing what you could feel in front of you. None of us had scruples. None of us had a view that anything we did was wrong or unjust. It was what it was. I don't claim to have been a dissident about what was being created and implemented. I wasn't. I was part of the machinery of oppression."

Ratchet stared at Lucien, someone he knew as sparkless and was amazed. Life was strange and this was one for the books. He wasn't the only one in the room thinking the same thoughts.

"You knew about the camps." -C2

"I did. I didn't administer them. I was part of the intel sector. Sentinel took care of the camps himself. He wanted to have control over them for whatever reason he wanted. He never confided. He ordered and sought information. He took advice but acted as he pleased. We were all tools in his kit as I see it from this distance. We were never partners, though he made us feel so at the time. He had his own vision and never shared it with me or anyone I knew. He was then and still is an enigma to me in a lot of ways."

"What did you know about his ascension to Primeship?" -C2

Lucien thought. "I made it my business to know how things worked and went. I wanted information like everyone else. I had been told by Kudon that Sentinel had killed Nominus when he was in the hospital. I also was told by Kudon that he had arranged the assassination of Nominus. I also was told that the Matrix was fake, that no one knew where the real one was and no one could know It wasn't where It was supposed to be. He feared for everyone if The People found out that the Matrix was missing."

"Did you know It hid Itself in the Matrix Chamber?" -C2

Lucien looked surprised. "No. I saw It choose Orion Pax over Megatron but I didn't know that was where It was. I thought perhaps Kudon had hid It and made up the other tale about It being missing. Kudon was as cold and ambitious as Sentinel. They weren't friends but they were allies. Both of them wanted the Matrix to use It for the control of everyone. The People esteem the Matrix with great fortitude. All of the relics, actually. That's what made it clear to me that something was wrong, the fact that the Matrix never gave the Blessings through Sentinel, Nominus, Zeta, or Nova, the Primes of my experience."

"Are you aware of the abuses undertaken in the camps?" -C2

Lucien nodded with a grave expression. "Everyone was. They were Sentinel's brief. He didn't allow anyone to go to them. Word got out about them through whistle blowers and smuggled images and messages from the Resistance. I won't tell you that I did anything. I will tell you that Sentinel always cut someone off when that topic came up. Sentinel used the policing, security and armed forces to do things like this. The law was so many red balloons to him."

"Were you privy to his back channel conversations with Megatron and the Decepticons?" -C2

"I wasn't directly but Contrail and Ratbat were always working on me to have greater access to information and direct contact with the security apparatus for Megatron. They never hid it, both of them, their treasonous intentions. They were working hard to turn others toward Megatron saying that Sentinel was on borrowed time and he would fall, so go with Megatron and get in on the ground floor of the new paradigm. It didn't go over well because it was … despicable and because Megatron was such a criminal. We thought at the time that Optimus Prime was an idealistic fool but Megatron was a criminal and a despicable barbarian." He glanced at Prime, then bowed slightly. "I beg your pardon, Lord Optimus."

Prime who remembered Lucien from then and was marveling himself now shrugged. "No offense taken."

Lucien stared at Prime then nodded. He looked back at Coln-2. "I am guilty of many thing, Coln, but treason as proposed by Ratbat and Contrail is not one of them."

Coln nodded. "What did you know about torture, especially shadow play and empurata?"

"They were devised during the reign of Nova Prime by Jhiaxus. I never met either of them but I know that Nova Prime was beginning to label and remove dissidents and those who opposed him through various means even then. He liked empurata because it was such a terrible fate for someone to live with afterward and combined with shadow play, changes you forever. He enjoyed that they would have to suffer long after the experience. Senator Shockwave is a clear example of that."

"If I'm understanding the process correctly, empurata removes one's face and hands, then dumps them with minimalist features and no extremities back into their life, correct?" -C2

"Correct."

"Shadow play is psychological and includes immersion into the greatest fears that the victim has until their psyches crack. Is that correct?" -C2

"Correct."

"Tell us about Senator Shockwave please."

Lucien thought back to someone he knew, someone he didn't favor because Shockwave cared about broader things than someone of his caste should have then. "Senator Shockwave was against most of the repressive policies and was a leading voice in the Senate against them. When Sentinel cracked down on scientists, especially those using their platforms to make things better for everyone, he had him arrested. He charged him with hiding dissident scientists who had warrants out for their arrest and he was imprisoned. Shockwave was especially effective in the Senate with his arguments and thus, he became … inconvenient. He was put through both processes and came out a different mech. One, I would add, who became Megatron's lead scientist and one of the greatest dangers on that side of things."

"Who ordered these events to happen? Who was responsible?" -C2

"It was at Sentinel's orders that all cases in which force of that nature was ordered or empurata and shadow play was to be used would be his purview. No one else as allowed to order or rescind measures of this nature but Sentinel. It was a clear order and you have many of them with the name of the individual signed to this fate by him. Sentinel kept good records."

"Do you have direct evidence or testimony of the deal with Megatron to bring Cybertron to this system?" -C2

"Nothing more than the comments of those involved but for Sentinel and what I know now about it," Lucien said.

"Thank you," Coln said as he sat.

"Lucien, you had a reputation as a ruthless despot yourself. You mention the involvement of Sentinel in many alleged things yet you exclude yourself from them," Highrode said.

"If you can find a single shred of evidence that I participated in some of the worst aspects of Sentinel's government, show it, Highrode. I am prepared to face the consequences," Lucien said as he glanced to the back of the room where Laslo sat with a worried expression. He pulsed affection to Laslo and got it back.

Highrode did his best to tear apart Lucien's testimony including impeaching his character by elaborating on his own actions during that time. By the time Highrode sat, it was debatable how much it had hurt the Primal case.

Coln stood. "I would like to call Sideswipe of Kaon."

Springer leaned out, then stepped back as Sideswipe walked in, pausing in the doorway as he glanced around. He was huge, beautiful, shiny as a new penny, and exuded enormous danger, charisma and confidence. He walked to the stand, took the oath, then turned to Coln. He glanced at Sentinel, then smirked.

"Autobot Sideswipe, do you know Sentinel Prime very well?" Coln asked.

Sideswipe shrugged. "I knew him. I knew him when he as a Minor, a Major and Prime. Sentinel liked to slum. He liked to hang out with criminals and gangs." Sideswipe grinned. "We got that a lot from high caste fraggers who came to the ghettos to danger junkie. I think it made them feel something if you know what I mean."

It was tense, crackling tense as Coln stared at Sideswipe. "Autobot Sideswipe, could you tell us how you first met Sentinel?"

"I never thought you would ask," Sideswipe said with a grim expression on his face.

-0-TBC 8-9-18 edited 8-13-18 edited 8-12-18

Something that's well appointed is a place that has all the stuff it needs for comfort and utility and looks nice, too, usually. A well appointed carry hold has toys, snacks, blankies, dollies, etc. :D