The Diego Diaries: Court (dd6 508)

-0-'Continue, Counselor'

Coln produced witness after witness to speak to events that Crader had been accused of. They spoke about substances flooding their areas sold out of the back of Crader Transport trucks with police standing nearby watching. They told of highjacking, strong arming any effort to organize the workers to have a better deal, theft, mechs disappearing to end up dead somewhere else and brutality. On and on it went with Sherrod questioning where he could to try and shake the intensity of the evidence that was accumulating.

Crader himself sat quietly with a slight smirk on his face when he wasn't glancing around staring at things and individuals. He spent a fair amount of time staring at Prowl and Prime before slouching in his chair. As a witness who had talked about drugs walked up to leave Crader leaned forward in his chair. "Hard Drive."

Hardie glanced at him. "Crader."

"Do I get to speak to the witnesses in this slag fest? How about me asking questions? There's some in this room I would like to talk to as well."

Hardie considered that, then glanced at Sherrod who shrugged in resignation. "Very well. You may not abuse but you may ask relevant questions. Stray off the path and you will lose the privilege."

Crader stood, then turned to the audience who stared at him with fear, loathing and real hatred. "How do you like me now?" he asked as he spread his arms wide. "I'm a slagging mini-con now. This is what happens when you do due diligence to your frame and everyone's a critic. I'm getting accused of a lot but we all know some of you here should be sitting with me. I took the risks, you got the profits and none of the summons or warrants. How about some of you giving me a personal testimonial to help the panel figure out my punishment? I could use mitigation about now." No one spoke as they stared at him. "No?" he asked with a grin. "No one?"

It was incredibly tense in the room as the group watched him, many of them who had done business with him and many who knew about his actions and associations but did nothing about them, though some had the ability to end his rampages. They sat like statues, many of the audience staring at him with genuine looks of fear and trepidation.

"Is no one going to step up?" he asked with a big grin.

Springer who was kneeling by the stage within striking distance watched him closely. This could get nasty really quickly. The security teams gripped their guns which hung casually from their shoulders, some of them. Drift moved from the wall, walked down the stairs, then knelt halfway down in order to move if the mech did anything untoward. He stared at Crader as he watched the nervousness grow in some closer to the tables than others.

"You look familiar," Crader said to Drift. "I do believe I know you. You were a gang leader in Kaon and Tarn. You can take the fragger out of their format but I remember. I have a photographic memory. No matter what you change on the outside, the aura keeps enough of itself to give you away. You're Deadlock."

It was silent as a graveyard as Drift stared impassively at Crader. He knew him. They worked together to steal energon among other things when he led a gang that operated from Kaon to Nova Cronum. He didn't answer but stared at Crader as he watched Springer tense up near the stage. Crader stared at him. "You have nothing to say? We stole things together. Energon, guns, you name it. You stole it and I transported it to the fences." Crader grinned. "There's one of them now," he said pointing to an immaculate bot sitting three rows up from Drift. "Hello, Tidal. How is it going? Care to fill me in on what you're doing now?"

That bot looked blasted as everyone stared at him, all of them nearly palsied with fear. This was the worst nightmare of nightmares coming to fruition before them. Drift glanced at Tidal, then Crader. "If this is your idea of a defense, Crader, you're going to be dismantled when this is over." He stood up casually as he stared at Crader levelly, his expression as even as ever. "Everyone knows I was a Decepticon once. A lot know that I was a gangster on Cybertron. It was do that or starve. Thanks to slaggers like you, those were my options."

Crader grinned. "You were a piece of work, Deadlock. I heard you went to the 'Cons and killed a lot of Autobots. You used to hunt them for fun."

Springer rose slowly, staring at Crader with real hatred. "And what about you? We all know about you as well."

Crader looked at Springer, then grinned. "You're a bond. That's what I heard. Do you know what Deadlock did?"

"Well, yeah," Springer said with disgust and no small amount of anger. "Bond."

Crader glanced at Drift, then Tidal. "You stole the energon, guns and whatnot, Deadlock and I sold them to the go between. You, Tidal. I could tell stories," he said with a humorless chuckle. He glanced at the others sitting in the seats. "I could tell a lot of stories. SHOULD I!?"

Springer walked to the edge of the room, then turned toward Crader. "Tell us what? Do you really think that no one here knows what you did or could tell? Go ahead, slagger. If you think you're going to hurt my feelings about him, you don't know slag," he said as he nodded to Drift.

Drift who was standing in the aisle looking impossibly sexy, his white and red paint scheme with its angles and sharp features almost glowing stared at Springer. Their bond link was burning up but outwardly both were calm and indifferent to Crader.

Coln who was listening glanced at Hard Drive. "Sir, how about we get back on track. This is all very fascinating but we have a job to do here."

"How about it, Hardie. How about opening the floor up. How about all of us just talking together all civilized?" Crader asked. "Its allowed if you agree to it. What do you have to hide? I got nothing myself. My life is an open book."

Hardie looked at him, consulted with the others, then glanced at Sherrod and Coln. "I'm going to allow it for a moment." He looked at Crader. "Stay on point. When I say this is over, it is."

Crader considered that, then nodded. "Okay." He looked at Tidal who looked deathly ill. "You don't look too good, Tidal. But then … I don't think you ever expected to face the music. You didn't take the risks. I did. You don't have warrants and I do. Suck it up, fragger." He looked at Drift. "You were a seriously dangerous mech in the old orns. I liked that. Even Megatron liked it. What happened to you?"

Drift stared at him, then shrugged indifferently. "Stuff."

Crader stared at him, then laughed loudly. "YOU GOT SOFT! Like you, Spin."

Another mech flinched as he sat in the midst of his family. He stared at Crader like he was an infectious disease. He was frozen with terror.

Crader stepped closer. "You dispersed the bribes I paid to have a free run. Police Commissioner of Tarn and you were on the take." Crader looked around. "You, Sleuth. You worked for the state police and you let me know when anyone was close to getting something on me." He looked at Prowl with a grin. "Even you, Detective Prowl of Praxus. I was told about your every step so you never had a slagging chance at getting me."

Sleuth, a big mech with immaculate finials and paint scheme rose slowly. "And just because you say something, we're supposed to believe its true? We chased you forever, you slagger. You're a pathological liar."

"I'll take a cortical test. What about you? Will you submit to a patch?" Crader said.

Sleuth stared at him, his fists clenching and unclenching. "Frag you, liar. Prove it." He sat down with a look of cold blooded murder on his face.

Crader looked around, then spotted a pair of former senators sitting together in the midst of their families. They flinched as he stared at them. "There's Gall and Barrow. Both of you were on the take but then what politician wasn't? It was part of your 'charm'." He glanced at Prime. "Present Prime excluded." He turned toward Prime. "You do know that we were preparing to kill you, Prime. We were going to assassinate you in office. Some of the senators were behind it. They wanted me to do it. I told them that there wasn't enough shanix in the universe to make that happen with me. I saw you when you were chosen by the Matrix. I was in the audience watching, scoping out how best to take you down when you were through at the meeting, then that happened. The Matrix saved you from an untimely death."

"You aren't religious," Ratchet said.

"No but I'm not stupid. The Matrix actually chose him. I was there when Sentinel and Nominus were just handed the device. It didn't choose them. This was real and that was theater. Fragger was chosen by The One. I was at a party once where a mech mocked Nominus and was burned inside out. It was instructive. I don't frag with the Matrix. I'm not religious. Don't get your hopes up. I'm just not stupid."

Prowl gripped Prime's servo and Prime squeezed his gently. Both of them watched the train wreck unfolding even as Prowl took down the information flowing from the gangster before them. "You were given the heads up?" Prowl asked. "What did you know about the gang trading in infants for immoral purposes?"

Some in the room gasped as others looked even more shocked or frightened. Crader stared at Prowl, then grinned. "You would have to speak to Decimus and Halogen. They were the contacts for that strangeness. I wasn't part of it." He laughed harshly. "Even I wasn't that fragged up." He turned to stare at Hardie. He set his expression to one of coldness that bordered on pathology. "Let's cut to the chase, Hard Drive. You want me to tell you things. I will but not if I spend the rest of my life in prison. You and I can cut a deal. I can clear up half the crimes that happened on Cybertron and then move on somewhere else with my party. How about it?"

Hardie and the panel stared at him, then Coln stood again. "General, I never offered a deal because of the severity of the crimes alleged. We're not prepared to make a deal. Without corroborating evidence and witnesses, we would have to take his word for what he says. He could be telling the truth or he could just slander half this room. I'm high caste and I have no love for it or what it caused to happen. That slagging ship has sailed but I do have an affinity for the truth and I don't trust this mech to tell me the correct time."

Hardie looked at Prime. "Lord Optimus … what are your thoughts?"

Prime stared at Crader, then Hardie. "I would have preferred a criminal court to this but this is where we are. This court continues to exist because it assists the assimilation of former high castes to a better path. This is of the greatest consequence, this mech and his charges. It falls to the level of special circumstances. The Pantheon could very well weigh in here. I do not believe that we can trust this mech." He stared at Crader. "Unless you drop all your firewalls and submit to a full scan cortical patch, then no. I do not have an interest in a deal. The People have an abiding interest in the truth but not at any consequence."

"Well, that would just be embarrassing, Prime. I could never do that. But I will tell you a lot. A great deal ... names and dates, events in all their three dimensional glory. I have that to give and will do it willingly but sitting in prison forever? No. I don't think so," Crader said.

"You don't have a choice, slagger. No one is going to cover or protect you," Tidal said with emotion. "The court has the decision and the General will hang you from your cod piece in the town square for what you did. You think you can slander us? Try it."

"Well, since you asked so nicely," Crader said with a chuckle.

-0-TBC 10-28-18 edited 11-3-18