The Diego Diaries: Trials and Tribulations (dd6 447)

-0-Somewhere

He stumbled back a step. "What did you do with him?"

"Why, Ratbat, I gave him what he wanted."

It was deeply silent, almost disturbingly so. Nearby, Magnus, Elita, Jetta, Arcee, Arrow, and Paragon watched with almost a sickeningly powerful tension. Their children had been among the babies meeting the Pantheon and it had been as overpowering a moment as either had had in a long life filled with them. That their children had been touched by the forces of all creation was something they would never forget. Now they watched the disintegration of Ratbat and there was no animus in them as they did. It was the most surprising part of the whole process so far. Ratbat didn't seem to understand the incredible danger of his situation or he didn't care. It was hard to tell. Arrow took Paragon's servo. Paragon squeezed it and stepped closer. Prowl had called him and he had called Arrow. This was going to take some conversation later on, it was clear.

Ratbat looked around wildly, then walked toward Prime. "ARE YOU GOING TO ALLOW THIS SLAG TO HAPPEN!?"

"What would you like me to do, Ratbat?" Optimus asked as he pulled his genitors back to stand behind him. Both of his genitors could post hole Ratbat but it wasn't going to be foisted upon them, the defense of anyone there. That was his job and he was going to do it. "I have no power here."

"You're Prime," Ratbat said. "Talk to them."

"And say what?" Prime asked.

"I don't know. YOU'RE THE SLAGGING PRIME!" He turned to Primus. "You said that you give second chances. I want one." He stared at Primus as the big mech appeared to consider it.

"Why? What can you tell Me that will signify that you are changing?" Primus asked.

Micronus stood, then walked down the steps from his throne-like chair toward Ratbat. He paused in front of him, staring at the creature from his normal Pantheonic height, 60 feet. Then he shrank down to the same size as Ratbat. "You think you can talk your way out of your crimes. You helped destroy Tarn and Vos for personal gain. You were undermining the lawful government of Optimus Prime for Megatron for personal gain. You wanted to be on the winning side because the gain was greater than working to achieve a government that cared for everyone. You didn't care because all that means anything to you is feeding your endless sense of entitlement. Now you disrespect Primus with your incessant demands for your own personal gain. What means anything to you, Ratbat, besides your own comforts and personal needs?"

Ratbat stared at Micronus with deep loathing. "Well, given that You don't need to eat or find shelter for Yourself, obviously, I don't expect You to understand how living in a society like ours would do things to your spark. You're a god. You can conjure anything up out of the ether and You don't find Yourself in the garbage, tossed there by the thing you love. What did I owe Cybertron who didn't even see me as a real living thing? Cybertron OWED ME!"

"I am not going to argue with you that Cybertron was unjust but why was that? What about mechs banding together to make it better, something the movements of each era and the Prime of this one tried to organize? Twice such movements succeeded. Why did you give in? Why didn't it matter that there were others just like you who were filled with sorrow, hunger and fury who didn't become criminal? You could have changed things. You were made a leader. You could have been a champion. But you weren't. Tell me about that, Ratbat. Everyone with notable exceptions were corrupted in the Senate and the Councils. But not everyone who were members of both were traitors. You were and so was Contrail. You went out of your way to make a bad thing worse," Micronus said.

"How can you lecture me?" Ratbat said as he stepped closer to the mini-con. "What would you know about anything? You've never been hungry or homeless. You never had doors closed to You because of Your frame. You were a god. You never were here to live this nightmare. I don't care what You think of me. Frag You and the Others. WHERE WERE YOU WHEN WE NEEDED YOU! SOME OF US WERE KIDS WHEN WE WERE ALONE!"

"What would you have us do, Ratbat?" Adaptus asked. "We gave you a world and free will. You were the architects of your own lives."

"THE SLAVERY STARTED WHEN YOU LEFT AND IT NEVER ENDED! WHO ARE YOU TO LECTURE ME!?" Ratbat said heatedly.

It was silent, then Vector looked up from the device in his servo distractedly. "He has a point, brother. I do recall We did something about this earlier didn't We?"

Prima shook His helm. "You need to pay attention, Vector. We took back the Functionalists shortly ago and now Sentinel Prime."

Vector thought a moment, then nodded. "Oh, Sentinel. I never liked him." He glanced at Solus. "You said you would keep me up on things."

Solus grinned. "I will. I do."

Ratbat glanced from one to the other. "I'm delighted that you think this is funny," he said, his voice dripping with acid.

"It isn't. I would feel less offense for and from you if you had just been a run-of-the-mill criminal, Ratbat," Quintus said. "But you made the lives of everyone else worse than they were before you. Someone robbing a store or stealing from a home isn't lowering the standard of everyone on the world by doing so the way you and your colleagues did with your actions. There is no excuse for the state of Our world and The People in any era but you taking advantage of what little everyone had during yours is not excusable."

"I don't care what you think, Quintus. YOU MADE THE QUINTESSANS! THEY STARTED THE WHOLE THING!" Ratbat shouted. He spun on the big mech, walking toward him in fury. "You created the Quintessans. They made the Functionalists possible and from that everything else followed. If anyone should punished, it should be YOU!"

Onyx stared at Ratbat, then Quintus. "He does have a point. A very small one but a point, brother."

Quintus frowned. "If You say so."

"You did. You made them. They enslaved us, generations of us. They sold us like property and where were you? WHY DIDN'T YOU DO SOMETHING!? WHY DID YOU IGNORE WHAT YOU STARTED!?" Ratbat shouted.

It was silent. Onyx glanced at Quintus who was staring at Ratbat. "Given all the circumstances, it is a good question but it does not alleviate your responsibility for your actions, Ratbat. You did not have to stir up nuclear war with Tarn and Vos, you did not have to ignore your responsibilities to the mini and micro min-con community and you did not have to commit treason. The Quintessans began an idea that was taken up by The People. They did not have to do it. Perhaps they could not figure out how to live otherwise, but you had responsibilities and forsook them. That is not changed by what Quintus did or did not do."

"Frag you, Onyx," Ratbat said. "You started this landslide, all of You. You had the duty to make it better and You didn't. You're going to hang me up for what's Your fault."

"I do not agree," Primus said as he sat on his throne listening deeply to the unusual conversation. "It is grievous in the extreme that the Quintessans were created. I did not approve then nor now. But it is what it is. They started a terrible pattern that could have been broken at any point by The People. It would have been hard but it was possible. You did not do it. If you had banned together this would not have happened. You were given the example with The Immortals. You put their greatness aside and walked back into your chains. Then you did it again, overthrowing the Functionalists. They were sent packing and yet again, you fell back into bondage. I am unclear what you expected from Us when you were very clearly to Me in your own power at both times."

"Free will is a gift, Ratbat, one not accorded to every species. When will You need Us to intervene? When your machinations fail? Every time you lose something? Are you fully adult or do you need a nanny? I am unclear on why you want to have complete control over your life and choices, then you don't. Which is it? Are you free to act or are you not?" Solomus asked.

"You will never understand," Ratbat said.

"Is there anyone here who will speak for this mech?" Primus said as He sat back.

No one moved, then Ratchet did. Ironhide grabbed his arm, but Ratchet squeezed his servo. Walking forward, he made his way toward Primus. Ratbat watched him go with a frown. Ratchet bowed to Primus, then glanced at Ratbat. "I can't believe I'm going to say this for this slagger who's about the worst mech I ever met. But I have to say … we never learned to be free. We never had a chance to be our own mechs. Our world was beaten into shape by those who never loved us and we never learned how to get past it. We never knew we had to discuss it. We had heroes," he said turning to glance at Delphi, Kup, Hercy, and Hard Drive. "They were our heroes and always will be." He glanced back to Primus. "But not all of us can be heroes. We don't know how to or we don't care or we can't. Sometimes the ugly has a seductive power that traps us and removes our ability to see clearly. Sometimes it corrupts us. What's part of my problem with mechs like him is that I can see them as babies and it colors my view of things. They came here good and life crushed them or allowed them to cater to their worst instincts.

"Ratbat maybe never was a good mech. Maybe he was always the acidic slagger he is. Maybe he always stole, beat others and betrayed all around him. I don't know. But I know that even though most of us had the same life, that didn't mean we turned out the same way. It's impossible. Some of us are too mean to be broken and others are broken from separation. Not all the disabilities of a life show up on the outside. I'm sorry for this slagger. What a terribly lonely and empty life he's led. He has no bond, no children and no real friends. Contrail may be his only real friend and how deep is that, really? Right now, both of them are at each others throats. I would hate to have lived the life that created this slagger.

"In the end, we ARE all responsible but some of us should've had a little bit of an assist. Some of us started out less equal than others. My genitors were able to keep me with them at their job. I remember when they lost their business to Galaxy Industries. I remember my ada crying for decaorns. Their dreams were crushed and if they were different I would have been different, too. Not everyone turns out the same while living the same circumstances. Some of them don't have the support I had. Take that into account. Neither of them should ever live among us this way. They deserve to pay their debts in a real way. But understand, not everyone is created equal and their lives leave marks behind.

"Ratbat did terrible things and Decimus did as well. So did Contrail. You'll do what's right and good because You're that way. How could You be different when You sprung fully formed from The One? Not all of us are that lucky, Lord Primus. Some of us carry our obliteration inside. Thank you for the chance to say that. I don't blame any of You but I also don't fully blame them either, though they hurt me and my family more than I can articulate. Thank you," Ratchet said as he bowed. He walked back into Ironhide's arms and it was silent again.

It was then that Arrow nudged Paragon. He glanced at Arrow with surprise, then looked at Primus. He walked forward, glancing back at Arrow. That mech followed him, moving among the crowd. Nearby, watching the proceedings, several of the adult titan and dreads watched as well. It was unusually quiet. Paragon bowed to the Pantheon and so did Arrow. "Lord Primus ..." He caught himself. "Lord Primus, I am Paragon and I was an Autobot until the war. I joined the Decepticons with the army and tried to advance my career through the ranks. I was sort of the mirror image of Prowl, a tactician and command second for Megatron on the regimental level. I wanted more and I didn't at the time think that it mattered how.

"Earlier, I had bonded with Arrow as an Autobot which was a career killer. You didn't bond with Seekers then if you were a grounder because of the prejudice. I don't know what I'm trying to say but I hope that you will understand how much it kills a spark to have doors closed not because you can't enter them with your merit, but because of the prejudices and beliefs of others. Arrow was my death ticket before we gave up and left the 'Cons, heading into the galaxy to maraud. All Seekers were being hunted for death and still are. It isn't because they deserve it, its because someone said it had to happen because they say they have no value.

"Ratbat is the worst mech I ever met. I'd never turn my back on him but he's the result of vorns and eons of prejudice and closed doors. Mini-cons were as poorly treated as Seekers. It wasn't fair but it was what it was. Some can survive it and build a great honorable future. The Tolers are an example. Autobot Bumblebee," he said nodding to the mini-cons standing nearby, "is also an example. Not everyone can survive intact in a system that's ultimately unfair for no good reason.

"I don't have anything more to add but I will tell you that I'm changed from a ruthless selfish piratical beast into what I've become. I'm a bond, a genitor, a soldier, and a citizen of my world. I'm a follower of You and the Pantheon through the Temple practice. This is one of the highlights of my life to see You. Not everyone can bounce back when life punches you in the face. I'm not asking You to let him or the others go. I am asking you to understand even a little bit of what it meant to be Cybertronian in The System. I tell you that as a high caste who had every advantage handed to me without much effort on my part to earn it. Thank you," he said bowing deeply.

Arrow nodded. "Parry gave up his career ambitions when he bonded with me. He was first in his class in everything he did including the Autobot Military Academy. He didn't hide it like I asked him to do. He had character and strength. Maybe you can say that was easy but it wasn't. His dreams died when he acknowledged me. We are one, he and I. Understand its not all neat and easy. Sometimes its hard and complex. Thank you for this and for loving our little mechs," he said patting his carry hold. "I will never forget this moment." They both bowed, then stepped back into the crowd.

That was when Sideswipe stepped forward.

-0-TBC 8-19-18

ESL

post hole: American western slang meaning driving someone straight down in the ground like you were digging out a hole for a fence post. Pounding them in the head straight down is what it usually suggests. :D

foist: to foist something on another is to push it on them. Foisting a problem on someone else is to make them do it.

Run-of-the-mill: something ordinary and not special, usual "It was the usual run-of-the-mill Monday."

animus: hatred, anger, deep abiding loathing