The Diego Diaries: Trials and Tribulations (dd6 438)
-0-Courtroom
"Answer the question."
Sideswipe stared at Highrode. "No."
"And we can believe you how?"
"Because I said so."
"Why did you join the Autobots? By your own admission, the gangs went to the Decepticons."
"Because we lived the best we could given the circumstances. That wasn't who we were, the gangs. It was all we had before us." He considered that. "We didn't choose our life. Sunny is a great artist. I'm a slagging good soldier and have the responsibility to teach fighting techniques to the whole army as the Master of Combat Skills. Your caste put it on us, Highrode, you and Sentinel. Now you want to pick us apart because you didn't give us any other outlet then? Frag that. No. I never killed anyone as a criminal."
Highrode considered the mech before him. "You didn't answer the question."
"I went to the Autobots because the Decepticons came straight out of Sentinel's fat aft. It was your caste creating the monster that made all this happen. Megatron was a symptom. Sentinel and your caste were the disease. What did you expect us to do? Die of starvation? Plenty did. Go to the archives and watch the films about the Dead End. I'm glad you didn't live like me. You should count your slagging blessings. I went to the Autobots because they were the place I could get paybacks and not end up in jail. It was the place where I didn't have to watch my back all the time, where my brother and I got respect. Everyone thinks Sunny and I should be Decepticons because we could fight and because we didn't sit down and starve to death. No one knows who we are. We're Autobots, fraggers." Sideswipe glared at Highrode, then Sentinel.
Sentinel stared back without comment or change in expression.
"You have a reputation self admitted and we have to accept somehow your assertions that Sentinel used gangs to kill innocent civilians and steal things. You understand our hesitation," Highrode said. "You aren't exactly uncompromised yourself."
"We aren't dead, either, though Sentinel did his damnedness to make it happen," Sideswipe said hotly.
Highrode stared at him a moment. "I have no further questions for now. I would like this witness to be considered hostile, Lord Optimus. I believe his credibility constrains full and impartial belief."
"You're calling me a liar, then," Sideswipe said coldly. "You, who defend Sentinel Prime are calling ME a liar ..."
"Sideswipe, stand down. Coln? Do you have more questions?" Prime asked.
"No, sir," Coln said with a solemn expression.
"Very well," Prime said. "Thank you, Autobot, for your testimony."
Sideswipe stared at Highrode, then Sentinel. He stepped down, then stopped. He turned to both. "You did your best to kill me and you failed. I have a bond, children, genitors who love me, and the respect of my peers. What do you have, Sentinel?" With that, he walked onward and left the room, passing a pensive Springer who slapped his shoulder in sympathy as he passed.
Coln stared at the door, then turned to Prime. "I would like to call a new witness not on the list but who has been brought to light. I asked Springer off line to bring him. I would like to call Maelstrom of Slaughter City please."
"He's not on the list, Coln. I haven't had a chance to depose him," Highrode said.
"I know. Neither have I, High, but the witness mentioned him as being present during an important event. He's material to the case," Coln said.
"Springer," Prime said. "Is Maelstrom here?"
Springer nodded. "He's here."
"Then call him in. I will allow this witness and any others who come up in testimony that have a direct bearing on the events in question even if they are not on the witness list or have been deposed," Prime said.
Springer leaned out, then back to let Chromia enter. She was tense but pre-combative in expression. The mech behind her, huge, massive and tense looked less so. He glanced at Ratchet who nodded to him. Nodding back, he walked to the front as directed by Springer, took the stand, the oath, then stared at Sentinel with surprise. Maelstrom knew he was here, that he was going to be tried but nothing could prepare him for seeing the big mech sitting not twenty feet away after all that had passed since he last saw him on Cybertron.
"Maelstrom, I need to have you answer some questions to the best of your ability. The purpose of these questions isn't about you, its about something that Sentinel Prime may or not have done in the past. You were mentioned as a witness," Coln said as the huge mech nodded.
He glanced at Chromia who was sitting with Raptor. She nodded, so he looked at Coln. "Okay." He glanced at Prime. "Am I going back to jail? Some of the stuff back then wasn't kosher."
Prime stifled a grin. "We are interested in what you know, Maelstrom. You are not here for what you might have done."
"Okay." He looked at Coln. "I'll tell you what I know. My girl, Chromia, she wants me to do the right thing but I'll tell you up front. That's hard to do. I grew up in Slaughter City. The cops and courts were the enemy."
"I hope you don't think so today, Maelstrom. I want to know what you know about some things that happened in relation to Sentinel during the time of his reign. They include your brother, Turmoil. Is that clear?" Coln asked sympathetically.
"Sure," Maelstrom said.
"Was your brother a road rage gang leader in the Kaon area or there abouts?" -C2
Maelstrom glanced at Ratchet and Ironhide who nodded. "Yeah. He was. I was … uh, I was his minion. He called me that as a joke. I didn't think it was funny."
Prime quashed a smirk and it would appear everyone but Highrode and Sentinel did as well. This could be fun, he thought. He wanted something less depressing and hopefully, Maelstrom would deliver in all the ways needed.
"He was a dangerous mech, your brother. He was a … and I'm going to be blunt about it … a hired killer, thief, murderer, and any number of other things. Correct?" -C2
Maelstrom thought about it. "I'm no snitch."
"Autobot Maelstrom," Prime said formally, "You are here under oath to speak to things that were potentially great wrongs against all our people and Primus Himself. All you have to do is assist us in finding out what you saw, heard and experienced then. It is not 'snitching' to be honorable in your truth. You have already demonstrated your worth to all of us here. Now show the dead that you are honorable for them, too."
Maelstrom stared at him, mulling the words Prime had spoken. He looked out at everyone there, Ratchet, Ironhide and his family, those who had witnessed and stayed, then His Chromia. She balled her fist and raised it slightly, nodding to him with a direct expression of support. He felt his insides melt. If it was okay with his girl, it would be okay with his personal code. Chromia was a goddess in his estimation. He looked at Coln. "We were destitute. Our genitors died on the job and the government didn't care. We were homeless young, like the twins and half the mechs in this room. We had to survive and not be someone elses meat. We did what we did to survive and I don't apologize." He looked at Sentinel. "You should have helped us but you didn't give a frag. Frag you, Sentinel, and all the others who ignored us."
Highrode stared at the massive mech before him. Sentinel was indeed responsible but he wasn't going to object. This was a dangerous mech and what could he say? It was Sentinel's brief to care for the homeless and hungry and he didn't. He sat back to listen and decide what to say, if anything, while the mech before him spoke.
"Where you present at a gathering of gang leaders called by Sentinel Prime to discuss working for him as hired guns, anarchists and murderers?" -C2
Maelstrom looked uncomfortable but nodded. The warmth coming to him from Chromia made all the difference. "Yeah. We were called, all of us. I came as Turmoil's second and everyone was there, the twins and Splice, Carbo, Mechio, and the like. Catilla, Carnivac, Ruckus, and Bludgeon were there, too. Before they were Mayhem Team members, they ran gangs all over the planet. They were there to hear what Sentinel wanted. Everyone was ready to kill everyone but all of us were curious."
"Did Sentinel hang out with gangs?" -C2
Maelstrom nodded. "He did. He did it all over the place. If he had to go somewhere, he hit up the clubs after when he could. I don't think he liked being a high caste. It didn't seem to be fun for him. He liked to bring his …" Maelstrom made a tiny grin. "He liked to bring his minions with him to watch them squirm. It made him happy, I guess. He was hot for Sunstreaker, I remember. I also remember he put Sideswipe in prison after having him half beat to death. That put him on Sunstreaker's shit list forever. We were all there."
"What did Sentinel say and what did he want all of you to do?" -C2
"He wanted us to be his private army, to kill whoever he wanted, rob everyone, strong arm businesses that wouldn't play ball, get rid of anyone in his way … he hated the peace movement. He wanted all their leaders dead. He was going to reap a lot of shanix and we would all get a big cut."
"What happened then?" -C2
"There was a lot of fighting and arguing over turf. Everyone had their turf and wanted more. My brother watched them without saying a word. He always learned everything he needed doing that. He was a big smart mech, my brother, and the biggest fragger I know."
Coln grinned slightly. "What happened in the argument?"
"Everyone finally agreed but the twins and Splice. We were going to have our own areas of expertise … some would do hits, some would rob, some would launder money … that sort of thing. My brother would rob. He was big but he was a lot smarter than most of those there. He was an expert at that sort of thing. We were the biggest fences on Cybertron and in the Empire." He glanced at Prime. "Am I in trouble for that?"
Prime actually grinned faintly. "No. Please continue, Autobot."
Maelstrom nodded. He looked at Coln. "The twins and Splice didn't trust Sentinel. You know that he and the Senate got 10,000 Decepticons to register as a political party, then had them all killed. They told everyone not to trust him, that he was a liar and fragger. My brother didn't care. If someone got to be a problem, he would kill them. That's who he was. He wasn't afraid of Sentinel and just between you and me, he wasn't. Sentinel should have been afraid of him because of all the fraggers there but for the twins, he was the only one who could have reached him and snuffed his spark. That's who my brother is and that's what he could do," Maelstrom said with a faint trace of pride.
Watching him, Chromia grinned. :That's my boy, Ada:
:I hear ya, baby girl: Ratchet replied as they both grinned at each other.
"We have been told that Barricade of Kaon murdered the Missionaries at the Heights. The big massacre. What do you know, if anything, about that?" -C2
Maelstrom considered that. "He did. He told my brother about it and I was there. He was a cold killer, Barricade. He said that if you saw him, you were already dead. I believe him. He kills when he's bored. He has no limits."
"Did you see money change hands at any time for any crimes by anyone?" -C2
"I saw the little twerp come around in an armored car delivering payoffs. Our share of the spoils. I saw a ton of shanix … literally a ton at the club owned by Mechio. His gang laundered money for Sentinel and his crowd including a bunch of Senators, corporation bozos and Kudon through the banks and venture firms. I know Kudon had money laundered. I also know that Barricade got a bounty on his murders as extra payment. It was as regular as clockwork."
"In the end, everyone but the gang run by Sideswipe and Sunstreaker came over to Sentinel's control and did his bidding no matter what he asked, to your knowledge?" -C2
Maelstrom nodded. "Yeah. I got to see a lot more than my brother because it was part of my job to go to other gangs and other clubs. I saw a lot and it was coming from Sentinel. Sometimes, I even saw Sentinel. I liked to go to the twin's club because it was entertaining to watch Sentinel around Sunny. It was amusing," Maelstrom said as he smirked at Sentinel.
That was when Sentinel Prime leaped for his throat.
-0-TBC 8-10-18 edited 8-11-18 edited 8-11-18
In my family, if something wasn't 'kosher' (koh-sure) it was wrong or not right. (an expression)