The Diego Diaries: Home Again (dd8 227)
=0=In a lounge prior to a judicial hearing
"In what way, Mr. Ambassador?" Parker Perkins had asked as he stood in the box before a table where his computer sat along with a note pad. He spoke into the microphone pick up built into it rather than the one in his gear.
Ratchet considered the youngish man standing before him. His credentials as a legal beagle were impeccable. The usual great schools, the tests taken that made him legal to argue the law not only in every American state but in an impressive number of nations on Earth as well. He was a very smart, very able individual but his aura didn't read to Ratchet as someone who had no ethics. It was evident to Ratchet at least this far that he was driven by facts, the well being of his clients and at least to some degree yet unknown, ethics.
"When we came here there were seven of us. The Earth was in a dire situation that wasn't clear to them. They held the tyrant Megatron without knowing what that would mean if he ever became free again. We managed to save him from taking possession of the Allspark, our greatest and most prestigious relic and ending him. Because the humans wanted him tossed into the Laurentian Abyssal rather than destroyed by us, he was revived and to this day remains an apocalyptic menace for all humans here."
"There are those who say, sir, that the argument that exists is between you and him. Some say that if you left this solar system that he would take his battle to you wherever you went," Perkins replied measuredly. It was clear he was posing a point of view. Whether he believed it was also clear to Ratchet. He didn't.
Plus for Parker Perkins
"They would overlook the attributes that allowed him to nearly completely destroy the world he claims to love, the home world from where he came. He's a deranged individual who can't be counted upon to follow someone else's script. Your people held him in captivity for about 70 or 80 years. That alone would make him hate you forever but you also probed his body, taking from him what you could pry out. Imagine spending that much time with insects crawling all over you, picking at your body and mind, taking this and that bit away to examine sometimes in front of you all the while being completely and totally aware of it but unable to stop it from happening."
It was silent between them.
"I can't imagine," Perkins admitted.
"That's why he won't leave you. He wants revenge. He wants sweet and bitter revenge because that's who he is. He destroyed his home world and killed millions and billions of his own people without mercy, babies, elderly, everyone. He did so from less provocation for those offenses than he has in his mind about you humans. You violated him for decades. You pried into him, took things away and poked invasively during that time when he couldn't move.
"Think about it. He was awake and aware. He knew and felt every pain, every invasion, every violation. For decades. Think about while it was going on how he was aware of every single second of it. Think about the self control that he maintained to hide it from you even when you hit on automatic systems against the future when he could have revenge against all of you. Imagine the iron will and the fury that he maintains for you because of this."
Perkins shifted slightly, a tell of his nervousness. "My clients include the Harris family. You mention that you believe that the mercenaries that he has hired for security and other purposes are some kind of ploy by him against Autobot Nation. What do you mean by that, Ambassador and do you have any proofs of what you allege?"
Ratchet chuckled. "You're examining me, Counselor."
"Forgive me," Perkins said with a slight grin on his boyishly handsome face. "Force of habit. I would like to know why you believe this is so."
Ratchet had a moment to talk to Prime, then sat back in his chair to relax. "All of this is off the record of course."
"It is, sir," Perkins answered.
"When Mr. Harris arrived he wanted what he wanted. It was a vast list of demands including a population of 80,000 humans under his control, a habitat that was clever and beautiful but impractical. We have lived in all manner of environments over the eons and we know what works. We also add an element of pleasing aesthetics to all that we do to make our buildings and communities beautiful. We build beauty into things as the N.E.S.T. soldiers like to say.
"We disabused him of his demands, settled on a habitat format that was beautiful and fulfilled the wishes of both sides. We had the burden of building and maintaining them and thus, we had final say. I would also remind everyone that you only rent the buildings. You pay one American dollar for the century that you have optioned the rental and occupation of Earth2.
"Because we own it outright, we maintain it and do so through the command centers all of them have which are off limits to everyone including him. Those are our autonomous diplomatic spaces and we maintain them with vigilance.
"Mr. Harris wants to be a force in the movement of off world living for the humans of Earth. He wants a lot of things. He wants us to build a human habitat on Europa or Enchiladas. Both of them have our own bases. Both of them are problematic locations for humans even if they aren't for us. He wants to mine this planet and make a lot of money from all of his plans. We have other ideas.
"He also has links with a lot of people who aren't friendly to us, some of whom are terrorists in the Earth First movement. Earth First has links to The Revolution and The family. There is a lot of deeply anti Cybertronian friends, business partners and acquaintances on Mr. Harris's Rolodex that make our belief in his sincerity about inter-species amity problematic.
"We are at war, so to speak, with a number of entities and organizations that would breach our treaties and make trouble. They can't touch us here. You don't have the technology to get from Earth to here and even if you did you wouldn't be able to touch us. We're generations, perhaps hundreds ahead of you and every day we get even farther.
"We work hard to help you understanding that Earth is in extremis. We love the humans we know and care about all of you. Mr. Harris would sunder that relationship, bringing it to an end for his own purposes. He makes no real effort to hide this from us, though we've lately reached a sort of truce in the constant tug of war that he presents to us.
"We have Unidad Terra 1, Earth 1, Earth2, N.E.S.T. Headquarters for the garrison, the United Nations Consulate, The Resort Of Autobot City, the Mall of Terra and the Prima Station. We own all of them. We built and maintain all of them. They are ours and we rent them to you for the exorbitant fee of one American dollar for one hundred years. Mr. Harris wanted to have control of all of them but the Prime is wise and disallowed it. We have about 112,000 humans living with us here and on Prima with more possibilities ahead of us.
"The human community has the right to live without the machinations of someone who maintains contacts with those who would see us brought down. They have the right to help move forward human progress without regressive leadership who sees them as tools for his own advancements and ideas and not free people helping the entire human race with their problems. Everyone has the right to be free and to live with hope. We don't have a problem with humans living here, obviously, and trying to progress in their space dreams. We have problems with demigods who want to use people for their own ends and control everything that happens.
"Mr. Harris maintains a mercenary group of people who have no reason to be here," Ratchet said as he stared at the two mercenaries sitting on the couches in the box staring at him as they listened. "You are currently in the most secure location anywhere in this region of the Orion arm. We maintain a Watch program that is impeccable, field an army and air force that has no parallel and nearly everyone in the colony which numbers 200,000,000 plus the last time I looked has military or combat experience either in service or the Diaspora. You can't go anywhere here without running into an armada of guns.
"Yet Harris maintains a mercenary force. And that mercenary force gets into trouble. This is not the first time Johnson has had to be judged for his actions. Its my personal and professional belief and I would tell you my experience is wide and vast … these mercenaries are kept on world by Mr. Harris to provoke, spy and do his bidding to build his intelligence profile of us. If they fuck up and they do, then he shakes his head, looks as surprised as anyone else and is removed that much from the responsibility of what they do. What Mr. Harris doesn't understand is Prime can expel him forever from here and elsewhere in his domain without cause."
It was silent a moment.
"Mr. Ambassador, I can see your reasoning but it requires proof to come to a good conclusion. I have studied the behavior of the individual in question and he appears to be anti social at heart."
"It would do you well, Mr. Perkins, to study the behavior of Mr. Harris and his actions since coming on world. We had two mercenaries murdered. We still have that to resolve. At the center of all the disturbances is Owen Harris. See for yourself if I'm not right."
The door opened to Johnson's box as he stepped into the travel carrier that was slotted into his cell. He was carried to the table, stepped through into the containment where the two mercs and Perkins were waiting.
Perkins turned toward Ratchet. "May I have a moment, sir."
Ratchet nodded. "Of course."
The two talked together, Johnson's demeanor suggesting offense from time to time, then Perkins turned toward Ratchet. "We are ready, sir," he said as he activated the microphone again.
"Very well," Ratchet replied. He glanced to the door. "We need the humans involved."
The door opened and a vehicle drove inside. It parked next to the table and when the doors opened Ratchet placed from among several human males on the table and three women Will Lennox. The others stayed in the vehicle or around it. He grinned at them, then glanced at Perkins. "I do believe that William Lennox will be handling the evidentiary side of this process for the complainants." He looked at Will. "You're on."
Will Lennox grinned at Ratchet. "Thanks." He glanced at Perkins, Johnson who stared at him with loathing and the two silent but attentive mercenaries. "We had a mission to a highly volatile place. We were looking for a missing science ship. Its our habit to ask if we can accompany the mission if its not too dangerous. Its also good to know that all of them are because they're susceptible to anything happening and it often does. The mission before this one stranded us on the other side of the universe when we went to pick up a colony.
"During the course of this mission a fight broke out. There was a conversation about a legendary sniper shot by Dealer," Lennox said.
"I remember that," Ratchet said with a grin. "Our snipers are units. Dealer put a tower out of service from 150 miles away. He's got skills and modified equipment. Doesn't matter how you modify a gun, if you don't have the aim and the ability to calculate a flight that long, you're shit out of luck. Amirite?" Ratchet asked Will with a grin.
"You are," Will said with a slight smirk. "The conversation led to a fight started by Johnson when he jumped me. It led to a melee in the box which in and of itself endangered everyone there."
"Do you have witnesses?" Ratchet asked as he eyeballed the crew standing nearby.
"Sure," Will said. "Judy?" he asked.
"Which one?" Judy Fulton asked in return.
Judy Witwicky grinned.
=0=TBC 8-9-2021
Just so you know, I'm writing a Bad Batch story called Under a Blood Red Sky. It won't be every day but often. :D:D:D:D It picks up after part 15 so if you haven't followed all the episodes, spoiler alert.