The Diego Diaries: Shadow Box 51 edited for boo-boos :D
-0-The next morning
The big lecture hall of the University had been transformed into a meeting room for the Prime Hearing scheduled in a joor. The Banner of the Primes hung in the space behind Prime's table and there were tables for the defending and prosecuting lawyers in the area in front of the audience seating. Another chair was placed next to Prime's for Semi who would also be part of the judgment. This room would accommodate the families, friends and defendants much more fully than the courtrooms in the old museum, now the Courthouse of Mars.
A table nearby would hold the computer from which Barron as Head of Legal Matters for Mars would sit to search out anything that would be required. Prowl would sit across from him as clerk and recorder. Witnesses would speak from the space next to Prime's table. Banners of all the city-states lined the wall behind them bordering the Banner of the Primes. Below that was the banner of the Emblem of Cybertron. It looked like the Halls of Justice on Cybertron.
Only without the injustice, terror or corruption.
Several Night Watch mechs sat in the seats near the door waiting to be called if at all. Security was being provided by bailiffs drawn from and specially trained for this job when necessary from the Home Guard. They were big mechs, of a certain age and experience with the right attitude: Keep the peace without violence unless there was no other way and teamwork is the only way to achieve the first one.
No cowboys need to apply.
As they sat waiting, the door opened and a line of individuals walked in moving to sit in the front row behind their particular representative. They were Florus and his son, Mako, Barin, Reese, Swin and Ture represented by Highrode once again. The other side, former low castes consisting of Talin and Julon would be defended by Endar. The other former low caste mechs who were involved were not charged. These mechs were scheduled to be witnesses along with the family, the officers and a passerby who had been caught up in the hoo-haw.
The door opened and closed as family walked in and sat down giving moral support to their various jailed members. By the time that Springer, Drift, Prowl and Prime had arrived, the place was pretty full. It became deathly quiet as Prime walked down the steps. Semi who had come in earlier stood waiting and they stepped to one side to talk together. More mechs from the Day/Night Watch entered as well including a couple of reporters, one from Autobot City Daily News and another from IntraComm. They sat and got their gear together.
Prime looked at Prowl and nodded, moving with Semi to sit down on the dais. When that was accomplished, Prowl turned to the group watching tensely. "I am Prowl. I will be clerk and recorder of this proceedings. I am going to caution you to hold to the decorum that is expected in a serious proceeding such as a Prime Hearing. This hearing is to establish the cause and find a solution to a repeated breach of the peace which the Prime believes has a larger impact on the common peace than just younglings having a dispute. You will hold your comments and contain your behavior or you will be escorted out." He turned and nodded respectfully to Prime before sitting to begin the recording devices.
Optimus Prime looked at the gathering, then sat straighter. "This Prime Hearing is in session because I believe that there is a dynamic at work here that is larger than it would seem. It would appear as it stands now that this stems from the System that holds some of our people to be lesser than others for reasons that have been disproved and outlawed since the Fall of Cybertron. The first incident was handled in a very fair manner. Prowl at my request introduced his own petition into the proceedings to outline for everyone the stance of the colony and of me, the Prime so that all would be clear on what was going to be accepted and what wasn't.
"During the intake process for all refugees, we explain very carefully that the System is dead, outlawed and banned forever from our society. I, as Prime, have the duty to lead our people well, ensuring that the unity that we have created step-by-step is not undermined. This colony could very well be our last stand. It could very well be the only 'Cybertron' that any of us, most of us ever get to have. We may never be able to retake our home world again.
"Prowl told you with his petition that there is no legal, moral, religious or intellectual justification for the System to exist. Primus instituted among all of us through the Matrix and through our most sacred documents and beliefs that all of us are one. All of us. Yet, we are here today because some of us don't appear to hold that to be true. It would appear that for some of us, allegedly, an artificial belief in the superiority of a few over the many is the only acceptable way to live together. I want to hear the facts, listen to the arguments and take the time to think about this. I want you to speak to me with honesty and strength. If you have a point of view that needs expression, please speak it to me now.
"I have asked Semi to listen and offer his own wisdom as we craft a solution to this ongoing problem. I am responsible for almost a million of our people with twice that many more currently calculated to be coming to safety with us. I cannot be worried that our unity is being weakened now when we need it more than before. Barron will speak to points of law and Coln-2 from the Prosecutor's office will represent my interests as the Prime and the state personified in this hearing. I turn this hearing over to you, Coln-2."
A tall bot with a calm manner and a cool optic stood and nodded, pausing to look at his pad for a moment. He was a prosecutor from Polyhex who had been part of a group of lawyers who had decided to investigate the corruption of the Senate. They hadn't lasted long as a group. They were forced to leave Cybertron before the Fall or be put into punitive stasis. Needless to say, they left and formed the nucleus of a group that had been traveling through space looking for a home ever since. They would land somewhere, live peacefully and eventually be evicted because in a number of places Cybertronians no matter how peaceful were not wanted. Needless to say, he was one patient bot. "I would like to call a mech named Lobo to the stand."
A bailiff walked to the door, leaned out and a young mech came inside. He walked down the steps and stood in the speaker area, his nervousness evident. Prowl swore him in. He looked at Prime, bowed his helm respectfully and waited.
"Lobo, you were in the Park at Metroplex shortly ago. We are interested in the events that night if you can relay them, the events that are relevant to this meeting," Coln-2 said.
He nodded, pausing to look at all of the mechs and two femmes in the audience. "Well, my family and I were at the park. My son likes the swings. We were there when a noise from the street caught our attention."
"Which street?" Coln-2 asked.
"It was coming from Temple Street," Lobo said.
"What happened? Please describe events and participants. If you can see them in this room, please point to them as you go so that we can match the events to the participants," Coln-2 said.
He nodded. "Well, we were playing ... our kids and my bond, Able. We have two sparklings. One is a walker and the other is still little. He likes to swing in the baby swing. We heard a bunch of loud voices and laughing down Temple Street. We didn't think much of it. A bunch of other mechs were playing ball at the open part of the park. i thought they were coming to them to play ball too.
"When the mechs from Temple saw the mechs in the park, they paused and talked together a moment. Then they started walking to them calling them out," Lobo said. "Able and I watched them because it seemed to get mean all at once."
"Please tell us who was who in this encounter," Coln-2 reminded.
He nodded and looked at the mechs in the room. "Those two," Lobo said pointing out Mako and Swin," They were calling names to the ball players. The ones who were being bothered are those two," he said pointing to Talin and Jolun. "The mechs who were part of the group yelling joined in after the first two began the scene. Those would be them," he said pointing out Reese, Ture and Barin. All of them squirmed. "They were calling names and it sort of got hot really fast. The five of them walked up to these two and their friends who were with them. It became a pushing match. That's when I alerted the Night Watch and moved my family away. I was afraid my kids or my bond might get hurt."
Coln-2 nodded. "I see. They were calling out each other. Did you actually see them throw punches?"
Lobo nodded. "I did."
"Who threw the first punch," Coln-2 asked. "That is, who did if you actually saw it?"
Highrode objected. "We haven't established where everyone was beyond tenuous remarks. It was getting dark. The park is very big and his stated desire to remove his family was a priority. His remarks haven't been established."
Coln-2 picked up a device and pressed the code, the monitor next to the witness box illuminating. "We have made a map of the park and established through the testimony of witnesses and Night Watch reports exactly where everyone was. It has also been backed up by a pedestrian who was passing by at the same time." He coded the device and lights with names appeared. "This is the diagram of the event."
Everyone paused to look at it. "Highrode, Endar, do you need time to study the diagram?" Prime asked.
"I am ready to go, sir," he replied. Endar nodded in agreement.
"Very well," Prime said. "Please continue."
Coln-2 explained every light on the diagram, then turned to Lobo. "Please tell us exactly what you saw."
He nodded. "I was standing there, at the swings pulling my son out of the seat. The mechs were chassis to chassis shouting at each other. Then that mech," he said pointing to Mako, "struck one of them on the face. That is when things got out of servo. I called the Night Watch as I pulled my family back toward the entrance of the park on Metroplex Highway," he said. "It didn't seem like it took any time for the officers to come so we moved to go to the Cafe on the Main over by the Mall for dessert. We didn't want to be in the way and the officers seemed to get it under control."
"What fighting if any did you see?" Coln-2 asked.
"I saw the mechs who had barged into the game beating on the mechs who were playing. They were the ones who started the fight," he said pointing to the five high caste youngling mechs who were sitting behind Highrode with Florus. "They had a melee going but the officers were getting the thing under control right away so I felt we would be in the way."
"What were the mechs in the park doing? The ones who had been playing the game?" Coln-2 asked.
"They were hesitant to fight but when those two were getting hurt," he said pointing at Talin and Jolun, "they jumped in to help. They didn't want to fight but they got sucked in from what I saw."
"Thank you, Lobo," Coln-2 said sitting.
Highrode stood. "You have been pretty specific about the order of the skirmish, Lobo. How dark was it at the time?"
"It was getting dusk. The overhead lights hadn't come on yet. They did when the officers came," Lobo said.
"The low light and distance from the fight might have made identification problematic."
"No sir," Lobo said. He paused a moment. "I grew up in a neighborhood on a colony world that was dangerous. There were pirates and sometimes the Decepticons would come and throw their weight around. I got to be very good at identifying trouble and avoiding it. Your spark depended on identifying and avoiding problems."
"Thank you, Lobo," Highrode said sitting.
Lobo walked out and Able came in corroborating the story he had given. Neither Highrode nor his partner could shake their comments. Coln-2 called upon the first officer, Champ who was the officer of the beat and first on the scene with his partner, Jasper. He took the oath and stood quietly waiting. He was a youngling mech who had joined the Watch for adventure and a life that could hold surprises. This was his first trial.
"Officer Champ," Coln-2 said. "What did you see when you arrived on the scene of the fight in the park at Metroplex and Temple?"
"I arrived with my partner as per the call for assistance and we both came to the scene from Tower Road to the north. When we arrived, there was a fully involved fight going on between an evenly matched set of individuals, all of them brawling heavily in the free area at the end of the park."
"Who called you to come?" Coln-2 asked.
"We received the call from Central Dispatch in the tower of Fort Max and it had been made by a number of individuals including a family, a pedestrian and from Metroplex himself."
"Please describe the scene and what transpired," Coln-2 said.
"We came upon the scene and saw a fully involved altercation in progress. We entered the fight and managed to separate the two sides by the introduction of tazers. We gave them the warning and they moved apart. It was at that time that family members of the brawlers began to arrive. The situation escalated so we called back up. Commander Springer and Commander Drift arrived to help us along with the officers from stations #4 and #6."
"What happened then?"
"The reinforcements allowed us to take them all into custody and bring them to substation #4. We booked them and took them to the jail in the basement of the courthouse for incarceration."
"Thank you," Coln-2 said sitting.
Questions of this and that were asked by Highrode, then he sat.
Coln-2 rose and called in the partner of Champ who corroborated the story as well. When that mech stepped out, Coln-2 looked at his datapad. "I would like to call Commander Springer to the stand."
The room was quiet as the door opened and the lanky good-humored figure of the security chief of the city as well as the planet walked down the steps to the stand.
-0-TBC For Pip
2013 (2)
Note: LEONESS! YOUR BOOK IS AWESOME! A character named for Orion! That is so great! Thank you. :D
Sky: Thank you! :D I have been writing this since November 2, 2010 nearly everyday. I am so delighted to entertain you. I love ya back. Readers have no idea how important to this process they are. The idea that people are waiting for me to post makes my day. Thank you, hon. :D