The Diego Diaries: Onward (dd8 390)

=0=Courtroom

"How lucky for you," Serial said with a big grin. "And how do you all plead?"

Docker stepped closer, bowed slightly, then grinned. "We were railroaded by The Man, your honor."

The entire place burned to the ground.

It took a while to get the place back in order.

Serial smirked at Docker who grinned back at him. He leaned forward slightly. "I take it that you are pleading not guilty?"

Docker glanced at the mechs with her. Then she turned back to Serial. "Your honor, we want to have our say. We as a frame are not afraid to take our medicine. What we want to say to you is what we feel in our sparks."

"Well, please do, Representative," Serial said sitting back to listen to some more remarkable rhetoric from a very smart and amusing femme.

"Thank you," Docker said. She considered her words. "I am concerned with the number of mini-cons and micros that are arrested here and when we lived on Cybertron. Our frame did the worst kinds of jobs and for nothing. We had no respect and our villages were like prisons. We were forced to move to work on projects against our will and we often were divided from our families.

"I am from Uraya and it was a hard luck town. We were important to a lot of industries but we never had the benefit. We were mocked for our stature which was a gift from Micronus Prime. We were mocked for our attitudes which came from living in a forest of mechs and femmes who towered over us but didn't see us. We were essential equipment and nothing more. Only Seekers can understand that better than us.

"When the civil war began we were used to slave energy for Decepticons, held in bondage and discarded when of no more use. We weren't allowed to board ships to get away when The Fall came and the Great Exodus was in full swing. That's why so few of us got away. We were tossed aside and had to make our own way stealing ships and taking our villages as best we could.

"No one talks about that. No one probably even knows that when the lines were pressing forward into ships we weren't allowed to join them. My bond and I along with my family, Chan and Corr were at a station to go. My son was in Vos trying to save them from nuking each other and he told us to run, that he would find us no matter what.

"We went to the station and got into line. When we got to the boarding platform they wouldn't allow us. I was a mini-con and they said none were being allowed to board. They said they would take my bond and my family, Corr and Chan but they wouldn't go. They wouldn't leave me," Docker said to a stunned and silenced room.

Ratchet hadn't heard this story. He slowly stood, then stepped closer. "Amma. What the frag? Did this happen? You never told me this."

"How can I tell you, Sonny?" Docker said. "We were trapped, all of us, tall and mini. No one was in their right processor. All of us wanted to go but they wouldn't let us on. Chan and Corr, Ratchet … they wouldn't go when I begged them. We were trapped. There were so many of us that managed to get away, who managed to find ships to steal or board with force. But most of us didn't." She turned to Ratchet. "Please. Sonny. Sit and listen."

Ratchet stumbled back, then sat heavily.

"I have no regrets," Docker said. "I have my life here. All that I ever wanted for all of us is here. We are one, we have choices and equality for all of us. This is the promised land that should have been for us all along. What I'm trying to say is that its hard to love something that doesn't love you back. We are a frame in transition from worthless to valuable. Its not going to be a smooth ride.

"We love our home world and this one. We love being Cybertronians but like the Seekers, we weren't loved back. We were useful and amusing. Some of us were lucky to find our love with the one we wanted, hang their stature. I did. I came from Uraya on my own and met the love of my life that way. Our culture was everything. But in the end we weren't valued. How do you expect us to become better and peaceful all at once? We're traumatized, all of us. But some of us have scars that no one knows about but us.

"These kids here, they've known trauma, some of them. Some haven't. They've lived in peaceful colonies, may of them. But their families, their elders and genitors … they know what I'm saying. They know what happened to us on Cybertron from the start and at the end.

"Micronus is a Prime, an original prime and our progenitor. He was and is as loved as any of them, right?" She looked around the room. "Right? He's holy and loves us as much as all of us love Him. Yet here we are. This is a recurring theme with our frame. Its a joke now. What would games be like without mini-cons disrupting? But its not a joke to us. I think it matters here. I think it matters that our frame get its due. We suffered, too. We love all of our people but sometimes I don't think our people love us. Not the way we want and need."

She turned back to Serial. "We did a bunch of stuff. No one expects better, right? But we aren't this. I would hope that you take that into account when you decide what to do. We're mini-cons," she said as the rest of the group stood straighter, staring at the judge with pride on their faces. "We can take it. We always have and we always will. But just between you and me, I think we deserve better than this. I hope you understand what I am saying here. I say it with all the love and hope I can muster, not just for us but for everyone. I hope to see us really live the creed before I end."

The room was hushed and emotional. It wasn't what they expected. No one expected this but the elders in the room were remembering dark orns it was clear. One stood up, an old femme as antique as any in the colony.

"I'm from Village 34-A. We weren't allowed to leave and board ships. We were forced to stay. It was hard to bear but we don't want our kids to be bitter. I'm afraid that they are to a degree, maybe a lot. We came here expecting very little and got everything we ever dreamed of and more. Optimus Prime is The One Who Comes. Agreed?" she asked as she looked around the room.

It was nearly unanimous in agreement, the murmurs of everyone there.

She looked at Serial. "We have all suffered each in our own way. The titans were hunted and killed. The normals were as abused as the rest of us but they were seen. Do you understand? They were given more respect. They were seen as something a bit more than their utility. I would like to see a different view here, something bigger and better. I know that Micronus wants it and so do the others. I would like to see all of us want it, too. I breaks my spark to see my grandchildren in court so much from running amok. We try to make it better but its never been acknowledged. When you don't acknowledge a wrong it can't get better. Thank you, Docker. You're a stand up femme," she said, then grinned faintly. "I hear you're also a commie."

Docker laughed as did the room, many after downloading the meaning. Many were the helms of the mini-con crowd nodding over that description with agreement and amusement. If Docker was a commie, so would they be themselves.

She sat, then Docker turned back to Serial. "I don't know what you expected me so say but its been brewing inside me, the way our kids bear the sins of the fathers. You can make your decision. We did what we did but I hope you keep in mind why. Thank you, Judge." Docker stood as straight as she could with her helm held high.

Sitting nearby watching her, Ratchet swallowed his tears.

It was silent for a moment, then Serial vented a sigh. "I would be lying if I said I didn't see that happen a couple of times on Cybertron. I worked at an airfield near Altihex and when the ships were leaving I saw the fights break out between everyone and the mini-cons trying to go. I'm sorry, Docker and all of you for that. I wish I could make it better. I do know that things like that, generational pain, can lead to things like this.

"I am going to sentence all of you to home detention. Some of you had longer lists of offenses than others. I will transmit them to the probation office and you can find out how many orns you have to remain at home but for work or school. I am also sentencing all of you to an indeterminate schedule of counseling. I'll have the Center send reports to me when they feel that you're ready to step forward without their support.

"I'm convinced that there's a better path forward. We want everyone in the colony to progress and free themselves from the chains we've all borne. For those of you who complete this treatment plan, your record will be expunged. You will not be released from counseling until there's agreement among the counselors that you're in good order with your emotions and suffering."

He looked Docker a moment, then nodded. "Thank you, Docker. I sentence you to five orns at home with only essential business of school and work beyond that threshold."

Docker nodded. "Thank you. We're going to do this and get better or how else will we ever be happy? It amazes me how you're expected to love a thing that doesn't love you back. I believe we'll be the exception to the rule." She turned to the crowd of solemn faced fellow frames, then grinned. "Its the Mini-Con Code. Right?"

The roof blew off the place.

Moments later as entire families carried their own little miscreant shit on their shoulders heading for the Probation Department, Docker found herself swept up by an emotional grandson. Ratchet went with the flow as they made their way to an elevator. Down they went, then outside.

Ratchet didn't say a word as he carried her with him, heading for The City beyond. He crossed the airfield and found his way to the Kiddie Park at Metroplex. Putting her down gently, he sat on a bench. He patted it, then leaned into her. "You never told me this. Is that how you were trapped on world?"

Docker nodded. "They wouldn't leave me. I don't even blame anyone anymore, Sonny, and I hope you don't. War strips everything that is good and beautiful away and leaves nothing behind. War is the worst thing anyone can ever do. No one is sacred in a war, son. Who should know that better than you?"

"I was in Vos. I was trying to get to you. You got the message to flee? I told you I would move heaven and earth to find you. I would never stop. I thought you got away so I searched for you, too, all of you all the time afterward. I never thought you didn't. I hoped you were somewhere safe," Ratchet said. Tears welled, then slid down his face. "I didn't know."

"How could you?" Docker said as she wiped the tears away. "That was then. We aren't the same now. You saw us when Black Shadow came. All of us stood together. We all helped each other in the attack. What happened then was so strange and awful that no one acted very well. I do know that love is the only thing that matters because Ratchet, Chan and Corr could have left and didn't."

"How could they have left you behind, Amma?" Ratchet asked with an agonized voice.

"Some did. I saw it. I know that life throws things at you that are hard and sometimes you act less than what you hoped you would. But its like a test. Some pass, some don't. I just want the mini community to be understood and appreciated. That's all. I don't want revenge or to shame anyone. We were all against the wall. I just want us to be one," Docker said gently to the one person in the universe that was everything to her in the deepest possible way, her precious grandson, Sonny.

"We are, Amma," Ratchet said as he hugged her tightly.

They would talk a while, bringing forward at last all the horrors of the last orns of their precious home world and people. In the end they would agree on the same thing, that war is failure, the biggest kind of all and that love is the only thing that matters.

=0=TBC 3-15-2022

ESL

progenitor (pro-gen-ih-tur) The first one of a line, an ancestor or parent. The first of a thing that becomes a species, like ants. Their ancestors, their progenitors were wasps. They lost their wings and became ground insects but their progenitors were flying insects.

NOTES:

SunriderandSunspot chapter 384 . 12h ago

Oh my god, I love those Titans!

ME: If they didn't exist I would have to write them. LOL! I love them so so so much. HUGS, darling!

Jackalkat chapter 388 . Mar 13

I feel for the femmes. As a trans guy for whom gender has been a struggle and a lot of pain and cruelty, they ring real hard for me when you write them.

ME: I hear you. Understand, you are precious and questing for who you are. That is a noble thing. It is deeply noble. Too many people go through their life enduring rather than searching out who they are and what they need. People are filled with fear when they see something they don't understand and that causes a lot of suffering.

I personally have so much respect and admiration for transgendered people and their struggle. I will never understand how its someone else's business. Just know that you're a pioneer of love, compassion, courage and self understanding. The world will catch up and see the heroic struggle of transgender people trying to find peace and the authentic expression of who they are as the great and good thing it is.

No matter what happens to you in your life, Jackalkat, just know I love and admire you. I wish you all the greatest hope and peace. The day is coming when it will come to pass. I'm nearly 70 years old and I've seen it all. You will triumph in the end and by doing so all of us will because of it. Just know how much you are needed and loved. =Me