The Diego Diaries: Stuff (dd7 138)
=0=Ops Center later on that morning
Optimus Prime walked out of the corridor to the work table in the middle of the room.
At a console nearby, Prowl was taking a message. He came toward the table as Prime sat, then sat himself. "We have a problem on Cybertron," Prowl said.
Prime nodded. "What is it?"
"It would appear that a number of individuals arrived in Iacon by a ship that appeared out of nowhere and went to the Diamond District where they inspected a number of sites that were homes of some of the power brokers there. They seemed to be a bit perturbed that the new plans didn't allow for their homes to be rebuilt and that the land was conscripted by the government for homes for others. It got testy so the crews there sent for Hardie. When he got there the group had gone back to the airport and flew off. Hardie is on his way here now. He sent these pictures," Prowl said as he handed a data pad to Prime.
Prime perused it, then sat back placing the data pad on the table. "I suppose we better get the committee in to go over this."
"They're on their way," Prowl said with a grim expression.
=0=Moments later
They filed in, Barron, Coln-2, Blackstone, Jetta, Elita, Springer, Drift and a handful of very intense, very smart looking worker bees, all of them members of the Committee To Find and Prosecute War Criminals who joined those already there including Ratchet. They came inside, then sat around the huge table where the committee for the colony took their meetings.
Springer shut the door, then sat down beside Drift.
"Thank you for coming on such short notice," Optimus said. "We appear to have had a sighting on Cybertron of a number of flagged individuals whose whereabouts and even their status among the living have been unknown," Prime said as Hard Drive and an adjutant, a mech named Crowbar entered the room.
"Sorry, Optimus," Hardie said as the two sat. "We had to try to tag their ship before they left."
"Did you?" Prowl asked.
"We did," Hardie said.
"What can you tell us, General?" Prime asked.
Hardie considered that, then sat back. "We got word from the airport near the Wells that a ship had appeared out of nowhere on the radar and had landed there. A number of mechs climbed out, transformed and drove away. Considering we have everyone on the roadway grid, we tracked them to the Diamond District nearby."
"What's the Diamond District? If I have to ask," Springer asked.
Ratchet who'd been at Ops Center already when this came up grinned at him. He grinned back.
"The Diamond District is a name for an area where the highest of the mighty lived. Cassio and Ebio Imperialis had a home there. The owners of the biggest corporations such as Galaxy and the NewsNet lived there as well. It was intensely exclusive and only those who as the humans would say, 'shit money' could live there," Hardie said.
"Its just a short walk north of The Wells. The area was filled with giant houses some of them many stories high and were highly gated and secured. Money was the password to the inner sanctum of the biggest still missing war criminals outside of the government. These were the robber barons and those who ran the media exploiting and egging on the government toward war and repression.
"It would appear that a group came, inspected their old houses and weren't happy to learn that the redevelopment of the area will be to house everyone else. They were incensed. They left the area, returned to the airport, then boarded their ship to leave. We were able to send a script tracer to the vessel before it disappeared again. It would appear that it uses bridge tech."
It was silent a moment as Prime called for Magnus to come. He mused on that. "This is interesting. Who knows the mechs in the images?"
"I know two," Hardie said. "The tall green one is Faber and the other his son, Fuller. He and his family owned most of the media on Cybertron and the empire and ran it to suit their own fragged ideology. They were responsible for the propaganda during the Clampdown and the war and they bought out or shut down all independent media in the empire. We couldn't change that because they were working for Sentinel and he needed someone to push his lies for him."
The door opened as Magnus stepped in, then sat down. "What is the situation?" he asked.
"We have a number of industrialists on the watch list who are visiting Cybertron to check out the status of their former homes in The Wells. They appear to travel by bridge," Prime said.
Magnus considered that, then sat back with a growing frown. "That's forbidden. The only ones who were licensed to have and maintain space bridges and their tech were the government through the National Transportation Board and the military. No one was allowed to own it privately. Its a major violation of the Tyrest Treaties and the Code of Technology and Systems."
Prime nodded. "We need to find out who they are and where they are coming and going from. One of them is named Faber."
Magnus's frown deepened. "I know that mech. He trafficked in forbidden technology. He was trouble from way back. It would appear that he got what he wanted. I was told early on that he was looking for space bridge tech and technicians to make a colony for himself away from Cybertron and its pesky regulations."
"So that might mean he did. I doubt that he did the work for it himself. We might be looking at another Functionalist situation, Optimus," Ratchet said.
One of the members of the committee who tracked these kind of slaggers flinched. She was Functionalist, a small enclave of that group living here without incident. It had been strange and a bit difficult during the massacre but it had passed.
"What is the word on the tag?" Prowl asked Hardie.
"We managed to send it in their wake before they jumped. We have a micro bridge open at this end to get the coordinates when the script sends them back to us," Hardie said. "When it does, then we can hunt them. I agree with Ratchet. What if this is another master-slave situation? Who knows what their colony is like but you and I know that they wouldn't do any work on their own. It could be a very bad situation all around."
"Then we need to plan for it when the message comes back. What sort of timetable will it require?" Prime asked.
"Anytime now. It takes as long as it takes for the ship to fly where its going, sit down, then shut down. When that happens the script records the location, marks the ship with a numerical tag for us to triangulate upon, then sends the coordinates. Blackjack used them at his base in the energy floes. They wanted to see if Megatron was building bases nearby," Hardie replied.
"I would like them to come here again," Prime said. "I would like to take them in on our turf."
"You, me and everyone else," Springer said.
"I need to know more about this Faber. I've heard the names but the details elude me completely," Prime said.
"I can't imagine why. It wasn't like you weren't trying to save an entire world at the time," Ratchet said with a grin.
The little Functionalist femme stood and reached for the data pad. She removed the chip, slotted it into her device, then began to type. Everyone watched her as she worked furiously, then stared at the screen as the data compiled.
She looked at Prime. "I have some information here and will tap into the mainframes on Cybertron to build a fuller picture.
"Faber of Faber and Tulsa Communications was separated and raised in Iacon to a very well connected high caste family. He took over the family business of media and turned it into a colossus with tentacles everywhere. Their specialty was propaganda, tearing down reputations of those they apposed, buying up competitors, destroying independent media of all manner and holding a hammer lock on the entire media spectrum of Cybertron.
"He's a terrific ideologue who spreads his highly slanted and often outright false ideas and point of view with his gigantic media empire. His main station in Iacon dominated the world even though it was known as a sleaze fest who supported the corruption and government to the bitter end." She looked up at Optimus. "They never told the truth and they hurt us badly from their beginning to The Fall."
"I remember," Prime said as Prowl fumed. "They did not like me one bit."
"Frag them," Prowl said hotly. "It's time we crossed another name off our list."
=0=The Diamond District, The Wells, Iacon, Cybertron
Prime and Magnus walked through the district along a street that was broken and cracked. The debris had been removed from this area as infrastructure both above and below ground was sounded, repaired and made ready for reconstruction at some point. All over Cybertron debris and wreckage were being removed to allow such repairs and to set the table for the new construction that would some day be built.
The area was as flat as a pancake but the original grid system of wide avenues and nice spaces in front of the tall and elegant houses that were once here … patios and other open areas was still laid out. This was perhaps the most exclusive area of habitation on Cybertron. Only the most august levels of power and wealth could live here. You had to be sponsored in if you bought a house that might come up on a special and highly guarded message board.
It didn't matter how much money you had or how famous you were. If you didn't past muster with the 'committee' you didn't get to live here. You could get an invite. Delphi and Hard Drive did. They turned it down, of course. That they were asked was a measure of the prestige and power they bore in Cybertronian society.
"This has a strange vibration," Magnus said as he and Prime paused before the space that once housed Faber's home. It once was of colossal size, rose dozens of stories and held him and his big family alone.
Prime nodded. "It does. This is not a place where I would feel comfortable living."
Jetta walked up with a data pad with names and maps from the old orns on it. They'd ransacked the big mainframe at the Citadel for classified maps and found one of this district. "Faber lived here. Over there," he said pointing to another foundation of a huge house on a corner, "was the home of Sentinel's grand genitors. Over there," he said pointing to another spot, "is the home that Cassio and Ebio shared. We have a map of everyone and their house. Now we just have to grab these slaggers and try them for war crimes."
"Piece of cake," Magnus deadpanned. In this group of old and familiar childhood friends he used something that few saw very often, a very good dry sense of humor.
Prime grinned slightly. "I would give you the job but you have a lot to do. Springer will do it."
"The former Mrs. Optimus Prime is on the job. Who tells him?" Jetta asked with a snicker.
"The present Mrs. Optimus Prime," Optimus said.
Even Magnus laughed.
=0=Ops Center, Mars
The three were walking back into the center when the script sent its message back. Prowl pulled it, found the mainframe files of mapping in the galaxy by Cybertronians since The Golden Age, then tagged it in to search.
Prime, Magnus and Jetta sat along with Prowl to wait. Layer after layer of maps flipped until one stayed. A cursor routed all over the place until it located the coordinates. It was not that far away by bridge, was located in a stable area between massive energy floes in an area of the dead zone called The Riots.
"Well, there they are," Prowl said with grim satisfaction.
"You enjoy this don't you. You need to get a shrink who can help you lose that emo thing you have going on about your origins," Jetta needled because he could.
Prowl stared at him, then sat back. "I do. Shoot me."
A stylus off the noggin would have to do for now.
=0=TBC 11-20-19