The Diego Diaries: Winding Down (dd7 136)
=0=Earlier that same evening
They sat in the dojo winding down, eating junk food and drinking beer. Sitting with them were Epps, Lennox and Graham. They were jawboning and telling lies, the usual stuff that mechs did when they hung out together.
:I was wondering something, Hercy: Epps said as he lounged in a chair with the others nearby.
Hercy glanced at Epps, someone he liked a lot. "What do you want to know?"
Epps considered a question that he wanted to ask for some time now. :I want to know what the major and minor things are. Sentinel was both. What does that mean?:
Hercy considered the question. "During the beginning, we had a lot of slag from control groups, the Quintessans and the Functionalists. Some of us collaborated. Some fought them. When things got organized, the Primes put together a system that assisted them with both the armed forces and the Senate. They had a position that was a military attache to the Primes called majors. There was also positions for those in training who were minors. They handled politics related to security and the military planet wide.
"Both jobs had other things attached. The majors were also their security chiefs. Some of them were brutal and terrible. Sentinel was one of them. It was also a stepping stone toward the end of the run up to war for the Primeship. Minors had a hand in training and running the army while the majors were military staff for the Primes and a political liaison for them as well."
:When did this start?: Niall asked.
"When the reorganization began after the routing of the Quintessans, we began to make our culture over. Guardian who was a huge inspiration and leader in the overthrow was speaking in the square at Iacon to a HUGE crowd. He was trying to pull us together when the Matrix appeared out of nowhere. At that time It resided in the hilt of the Star Saber, Prima's personal sword. It appeared in a blast of light and everyone froze. A light shot down and enclosed Guardian, then he rose into the air.
"When he came back down he was a prime, Primal frame and all. There was unrest and he worked slagging hard, Guardian. I liked him a lot. I respected him. He was a good mech and the last good Prime until Optimus."
:Who was next? I'm kind of fuzzy about the ones that follow up to Sentinel: Lennox said.
"Well, they were a mixed bag ranging from horrible to almost terrible," Kup said to great amusement.
"You knew them, the two of you. Right?" Splice asked as he got another beer.
"We did. All of them," Hercy said as he considered telling them about the glimpse of Prima that he had in an alley way after the last Quintessan battle. "The next Prime was Nova. He was a slagger's slagger. He had delusions of grandeur and wanted to rule the entire galaxy. He disappeared. If I remember, Zeta was Zeta Major then. That's how he became the next Prime."
"Zeta didn't start out bad. I think he had about a week or so before he decided to be a murdering killer," Kup said as Hercy nodded with a straight face. "He'd kill anyone in his way because dissent was coming back. He was Prime after the Functionalist Tyranny. Remember, functionalism was put in place by Nova who wanted order just before he left. The bureaucracy then took over when Nova left and became the Functionalist Council and the Grand Taxonomy which told everyone what they could be became law. They just took over. It was a pleasure to shoot them, too."
"They finally left but the pattern was set. The collaborators always had the upper hand. Even the Elites could only do so much with The Code. The next fragger after Nova was Zeta. He was brutal, a killer who would kill children if he thought it was going to advance his cause … he was a terrible Prime," Hercy said as Kup nodded. "Zeta was finally killed. Unrest was everywhere. Things were tightening up and the military was discussing coups and insurrection … the pressure cooker was heating up but it would take a bit of time to explode."
It was silent as the youngsters listened. Smokey leaned forward. "You were there for all of it, right? Both of you?"
Both mechs nodded.
"We were. The whole thing started in the beginning when the network was building through the planet for revolution against the Quintessans. Then Hardie … Hard Drive found out that Delphi had been sold. Delph was deactivated and boxed up with four others to be shipped out that very orn. He took a mob to the warehouse and burnt it to the ground freeing everyone. War was on and that was that. Alejate and his bond, Elba, Chromo and Wirelite, Cezr, Turbine, Delphi, Hardie and his brothers … all of them were there and more activated the underground and the war was on. Most of them live here now," Hercy said. "When they decided to sell Delphi, then the war was on.
"We drove out two groups who wanted us as slaves but it kept happening. We never had a chance to be free and live that way. We were manipulated and that leadership put us back in our cages. But by the time Zeta died and Nominus had become Prime after being a Major, things were set in stone. That's when the government didn't even try to hide what they thought about the population."
It was silent.
Then Smokey sat forward. "First, there was Guardian, then Nova, Zeta and then Nominus. He was murdered by Sentinel who became Prime after being Major. He faked his death and Optimus became Prime. I wish I had been there."
"Count your blessings, infant," Kup said. "It was terrible. It was awful. No one including us should have been there but it was what it was."
:What did you think of them? As warriors and the like?: Niall asked.
It was silent a moment.
"Sentinel may have been a treacherous aft but he could fight. It was a bad idea to take him on frontally without a lot of help. Mech had arms for days and he could swipe you with his sword so fast your helm would take a while to fall off your neck. He was fast, tactical, strong as an ox … all Primal frames were and he knew what he was doing. If he'd been worth a frag he could've muscled the Senate into jail, helped everyone and we would still be on Cybertron," Kup said. "I thought as a warrior he wasn't half bad."
"Mech had prospects," Hercy said with a nod of his helm.
The younger kids in the room were eating it up. They were as fixated on the story as children. It amused and fascinated the humans, both the story and the intensity of the kids.
:So majors are army liaisons with the Senate and governors for the Prime as well as security … like Springer here?: Epps asked.
Hercy nodded. "Sentinel was head of all security."
"Was that how he and Prowl met?" Smokey asked.
Everyone stopped eating and drinking to lean forward, backward or turn in their chairs to stare at the kid.
He stared back, then sat back on his chair. "Just asking."
Hercy smirked slightly. "Everyone had Prowl on their radar. Industry, security, the government. Prowl is unique. He's a high caste cop. He can do math and physics like his ada. He has rock hard integrity most of the time though there were those times toward the end of the war ..."
"You mean when he abandoned me on that hallucination planet and slagged everyone who came to try and save me before I died?" Kup asked.
Hercy nodded. "That one. Among others. He sort of got to be a cold sparked fragger who was maneuvering and manipulating everyone to do his plans to end the war sooner. Most of us didn't. We'd take them, leave and then improvise. Worked sometimes. Didn't others. Prowl would have a fragging fit when we came back usually with goals achieved but our way. He was really good at tipping tables and throwing things through the walls. I even once saw him high kick Grimlock into a wall."
:Grimlock?: -three surprised humans
"Sure," Kup said. "Mech has skills. Mind you … Sideswipe is the Head of Combat Instruction for the Arms Forces but Prowl was Yoketron's student, his acknowledged heir. He's a master of a number of forms that are illegal."
"Metalikato among other things," Hercy said.
"Do you know them, too, Abba?" Lon asked as he lounged with Bezel before heading out to duty.
Hercy nodded. "I do but I don't use it much. A good kick in the shins is about all you need."
"Ask Springer," Sandstorm said as they all laughed.
:Sentinel is in the Matrix. How do you feel about that?: Lennox asked.
They were quiet a moment, then Hercy looked at him. "We think a lot of our culture, especially now. We get hunted for our tech and a lot of aliens, you included don't see us as sentient and autonomous. All of them were a lesson. We didn't do due diligence to keep ourselves from ending up this way again. Three times we were essentially enslaved. No more ever again. Sentinel is where he belongs and when They get through with him he's going to be better all the way around.
"I've seen them all including Prima in an alley after the Quintessans were taken down. I was running back to the Citadel to find Hardie and tell him that Helex had fallen to us. Helex is my home town. I saw a light so I drew my gun and went down the alley. The light was very bright and when I got close to it, Prima Prime as standing there. He was about Prime's size and He was staring at me with a grin.
"I froze. We stared at each other, then He nodded to me. At that moment He faded away. I never told anyone that story."
"What did it mean, Abba?" Lon asked.
"Approval. I took it to be approval," Hercy said. "Frag it all if we didn't have to do it two more times."
"But its done now. I heard more high caste trials are coming up. Lots of slaggers waiting to hear the music," Sandstorm said.
"I heard that, too. Petty stuff for petty slaggers. They better do better in the migrations. NO one is going to be silent for them again," Kup said.
Everyone agreed to that. It would be an interesting and educational afternoon for everyone.
=0=Earlier the same night
They rode down the tarmac to the habitats taking a slow ride around the front of each to check on things and see that all was well. Drift and Springer were riding along by themselves tonight, taking their time around the vast and winding beat that was theirs.
The stars were out overhead, awash across the skies. No one was doing much beyond the usual. Everyone was working hard at their jobs keeping everyone safe. It would be a pleasant evening for both.
=0=Family Tower in the lounge just before turning in
"And that's the story," Epps said.
Everyone was silent.
"What a terrible way to live," Mama Fig finally ventured. "If you don't have your freedom you don't have anything."
"Truer words never spoken," a voice said to another.
The other nodded. "I would add that without love, freedom is just time on your hands."
The old lady watching them nodded to the other old lady beside her. They were standing in the lounge by the window listening to the story. No one could see or hear them. They could see and hear everyone including each other. Both were old, both wore comfortable and simple clothing and both were rather nondescript, not a pair that anyone would notice walking past.
"I like the humans, Gaia. I like your people. Its been so long since anyone lived here. I love that you're sharing," the old lady, Shan said with a chuckle.
Gaia grinned. "I don't mind doing that, Shan. It has been a long time. Too long," she said.
They listened a moment, then both faded slowly away.
TBC 11-18-19 11-27-19
NOTE: In the canon story Guardian became Prime after the Quintessans but died in the battle leading 'consumer goods' (Autobots) against the 'military hardware' (Decepticons). Nova and Zeta followed by Nominus and Sentinel became the next primes. The order doesn't bother me but the story line does. It has problems for this story. I also don't care for that timeline because its got next to nothing to it so I'm making my own. I'm combining stuff here from a number of universes. Later on, I'm going to go through the Chronicles of Primus for more background. I want them to have their story back.
Just so you know. :D Hugs!
ESL:
autonomous: (ah-tawn-ih-mus) being free and your own person. Not being held by or ordered around by anyone.