The Diego Diaries: Post Hoc (dd6 450) screwed up names royally. fixed them I hope. :D
-0-Around
Springer and Drift sat their horses at a junction that headed out toward the Seven Cities-North and beyond. A street party was going on with thousands of individuals hoorahing it up given the news. Some had homemade fire works and a lot of booze. Waiting for the reinforcements he had called, they noted the night which was cold and dark. Drift glanced at Springer studying his profile. "How do you feel? Some of the slaggers who hurt your family got the ax. Sort of."
He glanced at Drift. "Can you keep a secret?"
Drift nodded.
"I had a vision that my genitors were there and they told me they were coming. Eventually, they would come, they said."
"What do you think about it?" Drift asked.
Down the road from them heading across the open space at a gallop, a large group of mounted police came at speed. Springer grinned. "I think Old Ma might have something to say about it."
Drift snickered. "Well, Old Ma will always have me."
Springer grinned, then looked at Drift. "Just make sure I will, too," he said as the group joining them galloped to a halt before both. Looking at them, he smiled. "We have a street party to attend. Everyone got your brass knuckles?"
Everyone laughed loudly, then moved onward to follow Drift and Springer as they began to gallop north. It would be interesting to say the least.
-0-Home
Hobbes sat with Edict on the couch as they talked quietly about the entire unfathomable moment just past. There was no arguing now, no defiance, no structure to any point that would bely what he had just witnessed. It was obvious to even the most feeble minded that he had been absolutely and irretrievably wrong.
All his life.
And his genitors' lives and theirs ad infinitum.
It should have rankled more but it didn't. That part was surprising. Given how long it had been since he had opened his optics to the way the Pantheon expected them to live, it had become a past of him now to a depth that would have once been impossible. He had been his fathers' son, raised to be a high caste and to believe what he did. Both he and Edict both. But for the ineffable mercy of this Prime, he would be in jail forever. His kids and his bond would have been alone, suffering greatly. As it was, Sunee was still in the hospital but he was making some progress, small that it might still seem. He wanted his kids to be better, he had come to conclude. Then they would have the life they were entitled to, one that didn't harm anyone else.
The kids were slow coming due to the celebrations breaking out everywhere. It wasn't unsettling to see how greatly happy everyone was that Decimus, Contrail, and Ratbat were gone. Those three were impossible. What was bothering him was the absence of Sentinel. That mech seemed like part of the landscape, someone always there who seemed to be eternal. Now he was gone and it was shocking to him. He was capable of being shocked. Sentinel didn't deserve to stay but his absence was unsettling.
The door opened as Rad-R, Riff, Bron-E and her pre-bond, Borealis walked in to sit down with the two. They would talk together all night.
-0-Block Party
They rode through it slowly, declining the bottles held up to them as they inched into the jamming crowd. It filled the main avenue through the business district, wound down side streets and some even hung out windows. The noise was almost as loud as the music as bots sang, danced and drank. Food was being cooked as it seemed every food truck in the city complex was there shoveling it out as fast as they could. Leaning down to get a couple of hot dogs loaded with 'cheese, onions and chili', Kup grinned. "Nice party."
Springer who sat his horse waiting for his dogs and a beer nodded. "It still feels odd, though. I would hate to be sent off like this."
Drift nodded as he handed the hot dogs and beer over to Springer before taking some himself. His horse and the others, trained to be used to noise and lunacy waited patiently for the chance to gallop between locations on the dazzling cityscape. "I hear you," he said.
They would hang out, riding through the crowd before heading out to visit other places equally as excited to celebrate the demise of some of their goblins. The only arrests made would be for drunkenness, putting fireworks in the bodily orifices of drunken companions for laughs, and minor vandalism.
It was fortunate that no one knew the addresses of the relatives of the defendants.
-0-Prison, the son of Decimus
He stood by the bars staring into the distance, watching the lights of the city and the odd firework flash through the sky here and there. He had been told by Warden Gee-Gee that his father was gone, taken back in a 'recall' by Primus and the AllSpark Themselves. He had fretted over his father's trial but had no fears personally that he wouldn't prevail. He always did before. He faced his own trial on the offenses of his indictment, mostly money and covering up the murders that the government now considered the miner deaths to be. It didn't occur to him until now that he could be found guilty and pay a severe penalty. He never had before. For the first time in his life, Exegesis of Capital City felt afraid.
It was lucky for him that he wasn't going to face Special Circumstances.
Lucky, indeed.
-0-Family Tower
He hung up on General Morshower who was back in Virginia for work. The human group minus Earth 1 and 2, the Consulate, Resort, and Unidad had watched the report and were mulling it over amongst themselves. No one had heard about the trials and the idea that god-like figures could show up and take care of business was odd and slightly fear making. Of course, some of them had actually stood on Cybertron which was the body of a thinking living being. That alone should have alerted everyone that they weren't in Kansas anymore.
They would spend the night talking about things and watching the cameras of the colony swing through their usual configuration which was always broadcast on the Community Bulletin Board. They rotated through a set routine and as the humans watched, they noted the massive parties that were going whole hog around the cityscape of Mars. It was amazing. They would have many questions. They would get a few answers.
-0-The Resort
They gathered at the windows staring through the telescopes and binoculars at the hoo-hah down below. Fireworks were popping up here and there, not a lot and not in an organized manner. Someone was partying and they had no idea why because the Resort was cut off from IntraCom's live feed from before Prime's message until noon the following day. It was easier to control access to the message than to try and figure out what the tourists could know and what would be perhaps an exercise in futility.
"Someone is making and shooting off home made fire works," a man from Tulsa, Oklahoma said to his wife. "I used to make them, remember?" he asked as his wife nodded.
"You had a home made mortar. You're lucky you still have your face," she said with a grin.
He grinned as well. "Those were the days."
-0-Earth2
A number of humans from other facilities were in the building doing business with others who were in related industries or departments as they worked together to coordinate the human community on world. When the fireworks went up they were having dinner together near the windows of the huge dining area. Glancing at the bright streaks across the sky, they glanced at each other. Calling the police, they found out that there were parties going on all over the colony and there was nothing to worry about. The only information the call center would give them was that a personal milestone in their colony had been passed and it had made everyone very happy. No other details were given.
"I wish I was out there," a biologist from Iceland said. "They know how to party."
Everyone agreed.
Sitting at a table nearby, Jim Johnson, Sam Hedges, Carlos Ortega, and Silvio Lombardi watched the show. "They have to be using mortars. Look how the arc is," Carlos said. "That's mortar fire."
"Probably," Silvio said with a nod. "By the way, I'm going over to Unidad tomorrow. What about you three?"
"Not yet," Sam said. "How do you rate?"
"I don't have a rap sheet with them yet," Silvio said with a grin. "Stay out of trouble, use your head, doors open."
"Yeah, well fuck you, Silvio," Johnson said moodily.
"When does your in-house ban end?" Silvio asked because he liked to see Johnson squirm.
"Harris is working on it," Johnson said as he eyed Silvio with disgust.
"Take me with you," Carlos said. "I'm not in the dog house."
"Maybe," Silvio said. "Maybe not."
It would be a sullen group sitting around the table staring at Silvio who was feeling no pain at all.
-0-Morning
The usual screaming and hooting around ended with the arrival of buses, cabs and other venues of transport. The three big boys would be on their way to Trypticon for a three night venture into the birth, death and tortured life of quasars. Given the heads up the night before, it had taken a lot of monkey motion to get the suitable gear ready as well as the right number and kinds of snacks they would require as big boys.
Sometimes, no matter what world you live on or what species you are, some things never change.
Watching the last bus go, Ratchet grinned at Ironhide. "Time for the meeting."
"Frag the meeting. I want to go to the jail and see if I'm there," Ironhide said as he gripped Ratchet's servo.
Ratchet laughed loudly as they ambled along. "You and me both. Something tells me that the police report is going to be rather long today. They were hurrahing the towns in the thousands I'm told."
"I saw the live feeds. I wonder what things are like at the prison. Doesn't Decimus have a real son and a bunch of adopted ones?" Ironhide asked.
"They do. I have to go see them before I come to the meeting," Ratchet said. "Save me a seat." With that, he transformed and with a whoop of his siren and lights drove off toward the prison and a series of meetings with some very shaken mechs.
Ironhide watched him go, then pulled Halo out of his hold. She was in a Seeker bag with a panda bear hat on her tiny helm. She smiled at him and he smiled back. "Hi there. Maybe we can have a normal life for a few orns and I can show you more stuff. There's lots of mechs and femmes out there who haven't seen you yet. They need to meet you and see what a good little femme is. Then we have to find out your favorite ice cream. We can go to the museum today and see the pretty pictures. You can learn some culture that way. A femme has to know who she is. I also have to count rockets. You can help me. You're very smart."
She listened to her old pa with a smile. She had no idea what he was saying, mostly, but she was up to it. With a grin, Ironhide walked onward, deeply pleased that a number of mechs and two femmes exclaimed over the tiny femme on his arm. It was almost better than a good old fashioned slagging with the 'Cons.
-0-At the prison
He came into the conference room to sit without acknowledging anyone in it. Jarro and Ratchet sat on chairs across from him as he sat slumped and dulled. Guards left and it was silent once more. Ratchet scanned him, then sat forward. "Exegesis … we're here to help you. We want to talk to you about this."
He didn't say anything. Then he looked at them. "About what?" he asked. "My father is gone."
"You know where he is. He's in the Matrix with The Powers. He's safe," Jarro said. "I have no idea where my genitors are."
"It doesn't matter. He's gone."
Ratchet vented a very soft sigh. This was going to take a while.
-0-TBC 8-24-18
ESL:
Hoc is usually with ad hoc which means a solution designed for a particular purpose and not applicable to other things. Post hoc sort of flowed. :D
Exegesis: to take a critical look at a text, like scholars at the Monastery with the books, scrolls, etc.
Hoorahing: In cowboy parlance, it means to party wildly and shoot up a town after a long trail drive. :D
This segment sure seemed ready for weird words. LOL!