The Diego Diaries: Youth (dd7 111)
=0=The next morning at the prison
Rocco waited for Gee-Gee to finish with Siphon. He was in the next room with a counselor, a mental health specialist and one of the advocate/social workers for Youth Services. It'd been obvious during the application process that Siphon was young, not especially 'alert' and perhaps was an underaged kid who'd been drafted into the military by the Decepticons.
They were finding them here and there with every third migration it seemed and along with that they were building a profile of the individuals as a sight guide for the techs who handled their repatriation into society. It was a damningly sad list of attributes.
First, they were usually smaller than usual for the age that they reported or failed to do so. Many were the infants who didn't know how old they were. Medical would be their first stop for their health profile and a scan of their transponders. There was a calculation that placed age based on two of the five all carried around their bodies.
Secondly, they tend to have poor health, poor development both mental and emotional as well as physical growth. There was also traumatic stress and a sense of isolation that usually included a lack of educational ability and skills. They can be what they see, cruel, dangerous and unable to understand normal social behavior, further isolating them and hampering their adjustment back into a civilian life.
Their personalities can be changed by unrelenting traumatic experiences and danger, their ability to feel empathy or understand how their aggressive behavior can hamper their adjustments can be missing or damaged and their emotional instability showing up in all manner of anti-social and physical behaviors.
Thirdly, they see terrible things, have long term consequences to those experiences and can act out, be unaware of their behavior in light of others as well as experiencing depression, anxiety and difficulty 'fitting in'. They are disadvantaged over children without such experiences both in mental and physical health. But there's also resilience in some that seems to defy belief.
Sunspot anyone?
Rocco waited. Siphon had asked him to come along so he did. The kid had decided some time back that he'd 'hang out' with Rocco and Rocco for some reason didn't mind. The idea that Siphon might be a kid had nagged at him and some of the others for a while so most of them kept him out of the battles and incursions that they'd made for the last few years. He did scut work and did it well.
He wasn't very good at soldiering, though he was gutsy and would do what was needed. He did, however, until it became ever more clear that he was a detriment to himself and the mission. He had menials jobs on the ship, stayed out of sight when the Imperialis brothers came around and by that managed to not get killed.
Now he was being examined and it somehow mattered to Rocco what they found out. No one on the ship was going to take care of him. No one understood him and now that they had a chance to live in the promised land, they wouldn't want to be tied down by a kid with problems. Maybe today there'd be news and a good solution.
The clock ticked away as he waited.
=0=Ops Center about the same time
Prowl read the notice, then glanced at Prime who was heading for the door to go to Cybertron. :Optimus. You need to read this:
Optimus walked to the table, then took the data pad to read what it said. He frowned slightly. "Call everyone. I want Jazz and Elita especially." With that, he walked to the conference room to sit and wait.
=0=They came
From all over the senior Autobots mustered. They walked into the conference room and sat. When everyone was there, the door closed. Staring at Prime a moment, Magnus sat back. "What happened?"
"Just a few joors ago, the cell we were tracking on Earth led by The Resistance was rounded up by local and international security forces from Switzerland, across Europe and Australia. There was no advance warning. Apparently, Interpol was hunting them as well," Prime said.
"Why? What was the reason and how much of our operation is shot down?" Wheeljack asked as Jazz rose from his seat to walk to a computer terminal. He began to work to pull up the files on the potential incursion into their mission by hacking into Earth's policing networks.
"We've been tracing the network across the world and had a good lock on most of it," Prowl said as the door opened.
Artur and Willa hesitated, then entered. "You called us to come, Lord Optimus?" Willa asked as she stood beside her bond.
"I did," Prime said. "Please sit and help us understand a new development in the project you were working on with Ghost."
The two sat expectantly.
Jazz turned to Prime. "It would appear that a sighting of Silas triggered the operation on Earth among their international law enforcement organizations which included sweeping up the entire network that we've located and traced."
"The network … the one we're working on?" Artur asked with surprise. "I … what happened?"
"Apparently, Silas was reported in Bern and when they tried to apprehend him he disappeared. That led to a breech of protocol allowing the fraggers to know they were being hunted. They tried to shut down but were raided. They took down all our targets."
"Oh, frag," Artur whispered. "I wonder what Ghost knows."
"Find out, Artur," Jazz said as he pointed to the console.
Artur rose, jacked in, then called the humans of Ghost in New York in an off line conversation. He listened a moment, then commed off. Glancing at Prime, he looked shaken. "Our entire profile has been breached. They've arrested seventeen cells in fifteen countries around Earth. They got everyone but the Bureau and Silas."
"Bureau?" Ratchet asked.
"Their command structure. They call it that. They're very decentralized and very good at hiding cells from one another. They're surprisingly hard to track which means they might be using our tech," Artur said as Willa nodded. "They have military discipline and keep their groups separated from each other. Its maddening but we have an algorithm worked out to help. We … this ends a lot of work."
"Then you must start over," Prime said. "This is very important. I want to know who and what was discovered, who and what was gathered up by the authorities and what triggered this. I knew they had their own investigations but I want to know why this was done. I want to know where Silas and their leadership is."
"We'll search it out, Lord Optimus," Artur said. "We can get with Ghost and begin again. When they've determined the identities of the arrested individuals we can explore their files and find out what we can."
"That would be very helpful," Prime said. "Consider this a priority. Tell Ghost we will support their efforts if they require it through Warren's office. They must not at any point in this take field operations."
"We know," Willa said grimly. "What does this mean so far? Have you analyzed this? The Resistance, The Family and the rest including M.E.C.H. are very organized, well funded and built in such a way that the collapse of one sector doesn't hurt the rest."
Prime nodded. "That is true. We have full confidence in you two. Thank you for coming."
Willa and Artur stood, then bowed. They exited the room and as they did Prime leaned forward on his elbows. He looked at Sun, Steiner, Lissie and Jack. "In case you are not fully briefed, we have had two murders here, both of them humans from the habitats. They were mercenaries hired and utilized by Owen Harris at Earth2.
"He is an industrialist and inventor who may have our tech and he is the controlling officer of Earth2. He is dangerous to the well being of everyone and likely a very big supporter and leader of the human opposition against us. The mercenaries work for him and I am of the mind that he uses them to provoke and learn about us from our responses.
"There were also two Resistance moles who infiltrated N.E.S.T. and were here to steal information and learn about how we operate and all about our tech that they could. We have them locked up because we believe they were the ones who murdered the humans. The tech they were found with was of the sort Jhiaxus developed and used."
"Frag," Sun said. "I always wanted to squeeze the neck of that slagger." He grinned, then turned his shoulder to show a silver embellishment that ran along the edge of a part of his armor. "See that? Its a bit of his left finial."
"More grisly immaturity, I see," Prowl said with a smirk. "Aren't you worried about bad mojo?"
Sun surfed meaning, then grinned. "Yeah. For them."
Chuckles and grins met that, then Sun leaned forward. "What's the plan for the prisoners and for this? Are the prisoners linked to this group or are they separate?"
"We're not sure," Prowl said. "They aren't very talkative and we've kept them in jail so that no one will find out until we want them to do so."
"Hm," Sun said. "Have you had Hardie interrogate them? He's almost as good as Jack and me."
Grins and derogatory remarks greeted that as everyone remembered stories about Jack and Sun 'talking to the slaggers'. They were very good as well. Most of what they gathered couldn't be used in court but it often filled in the blanks.
Prime considered that. "What would you suggest?"
Hardie stared at his brothers a moment. They were big, seemed like rough cobs and no one was braver. They were also intensely intelligent, strategic to a fault, masters at reading a moment or a mech and figuring out what to do as well as cunning as frag. They were also two of the most ethical and wild aft mechs he knew and he loved them more than his own life. "So … I suppose we should take a ride?"
"I was sort of thinking so. What about you, Sun?" Jack asked.
"It seems like a fine day for it," Sun said with a slight grin.
"I don't want to hear about it," Prowl began.
"Tell me more." -everyone else
[Grin] -Prime
"I'm coming." Ironhide stood as did Raptor and Blackjack.
"What about us?" Springer asked with a smirk. "Can we come, too, Dad?"
Sun snickered. "That's General Dad to you, infant."
"Why not. You can watch. From a hill or something but not close. This is a finely oiled machine," Jack said as he stood. "Are we go, Optimus?" he asked with a grin.
"I did not hear that. Did you hear Jack say anything, Prowl?" Prime asked as he slid Possibility out of his hold. He sat back as he watched with his sleeping son.
Prowl who was watching the show like a tennis match glanced at Prime with a frown. "What? I don't understand a word of this."
"Good, Prowl," Hardie said as he walked toward the door. "Plausible deniability."
Huge laughter greeted that as half the room followed the big hulking mechs out the door which closed behind them.
Ratchet stared at the door, then Prowl and Prime. "Do I need to go?"
Prowl stared at him with a frown. "PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY!"
Possibility jolted awake. Prowl would hold him as he cried.
The slagger.
=0=At the jailhouse now
They arrived, Hardie, Jack, Steiner and Sun along with half a dozen others. Guided by the shift commander, they walked into the room that held the two spies which was the staff lounge. They themselves were lounging in their cells watching television when the big mechs walked in to pause before their boxes. Both of them stared at the crowd warily.
"Well, this is the pair?" Sun asked.
"That's them. I have to go on a break now. Why don't you watch them for me? I think I forgot the codes on the table over there," the commander said as he tossed a data wafer on its surface. He left with a grin.
Sun grinned as he picked up the wafer, slotted it in his arm, then turned to the group. "Well, guess what. I have the codes to open those two boxes. What about that?"
Everyone stared at Sun, then the humans who were standing up in their boxes with wary expressions.
Then Hardie grinned. "Sounds like a plan."
With that, Sun punched in the codes, the boxes slipped into their slotted receiving area and hissed as they became ready to withdraw.
The two men inside them began to yell as Raptor and Jack began to pull both boxes out of their slots.
=0=TBC 10-16-17 02-20-2021