FACTOID OF THE NIGHT: In all the universes across The Transformers, in all the mediums of print, film and cartoon, Optimus Prime has died 16 times. :D

-0-On that note, lets get going...

The Diego Diaries: Down Time (277) edited for boo boos

-0-That night at Autobot City, Mars

It was dark when he found his place again. It was as it always was he found. The area was lighted as evening set. They would sit together, most of them but the one he wanted would come outside. He always did after dinner and he expected him to come out again.

He poised his rifle, the one he had taken out to practice, the one he hadn't returned yet. He poised it and waited.

The door opened and two bots came out, someone and the one he wanted. They stood together chatting, then target he wanted stepped forward and walked toward the side closest to the administrative offices. The stars were brilliant in the sky. The city's lights were bright and the sound of ships coming and going could be heard at the airfield. His target stood facing the city, then turned.

It would be the last thing he would ever do.

-0-Prime Residence

They sat at the table doing their homework and chatting about their orn. Kestrel sat with them helping. He had done it for vorns when Optimus was a child, helping him learn through the network of illegal underground day schools where a child could come for instruction by the hourly payment and exchanges with friends who had education. They would sit together at the table in their tiny apartment listening to him read, help him form his letters and marvel at the infant who could see it one time and learn it cold.

They watched him pass them, exceeding what they could help him with. They read or tried to read the books he would bring home hoping to be of service to him by raising their own level of comprehension of the things he was learning but they never caught up. Their son was a genius, the kind of processor that teachers and mentors dreamed of helping.

They dangerously worked the system, enabling their son to have use of multiple library cards to enable him to get the books he craved. They pooled their meager income to provide tutors and books for him. They did their best and their best became Prime. The orn it happened was the greatest and scariest one of their lives. Their brilliant good son had become the leader of their people. The previous leader had been killed. It was wonderful and terrible at the same time.

Tagg walked to the table and sat, Miracle in his arms babbling about the dollies he held. Tagg looked at his grandson and smiled. "You are a very sweet baby. You remind me of your atar when he was your age."

Spirit paused. "What was Atar like as a little mech, Grandatar?" he asked.

Tagg smiled and told them, recounting the good natured smart little mech who liked to do things for them, play with his friends in the street and read. Standing in the doorway listening, Prowl would record every word.

-0-Out there

He poised his weapon, the practice rifle he used in the Home Guard. He sighted it in, the automatic mechanism finding and locking onto the target. Poised, calm, he squeezed the trigger. You didn't pull a trigger. You gently squeezed it. The ignition was triggered. A ball of energon formed in the chamber, compression making it bullet shaped. The act of compression dampened the surface temperature of the slug making a hard coat around it. It pulsed forward moving down the barrel, the action of the spiraling traverse squeezing the slug into a hard round. It would stay that way until it hit the target it was intended for. Then it would splatter and destroy a wide area around the entrance hole it would make.

He stood staring through the sight as the slug slammed into the helm he was aiming for, passing through to hit the electrified bars beyond. A small explosion sparked, then died away. He stared at the target who stood swaying a moment. Then the target fell down in a heap. The report had been loud but he hadn't heard it so intent was he on the chore of murder.

The moment was quiet as he turned, then shouting and running peds alerted everyone that something terrible had happened. He was on his way when the guards ran for the cell block, the Officer of the Orn dropping the bars so mechs could go inside. They would gather around the dead bot, then call Ops Center. The call would reach the Officer of the Orn and he would alert Prowl. Prowl would put down the dishes he was putting away and pause long enough to ascertain the situation. He would then buzz Optimus who was sitting at the dining table listening to his genitors telling stories about his childhood.

Optimus would make his regrets and the two would leave to take care of something in the city they would say. By the time they reached the 24th floor, Ratchet and Ironhide would join them for the ride down to the lobby.

-0-On the way back to the city

The Night Watch was alerted and Springer was on it. He and Drift left the Metroplex District where they were beginning their beat and turned hurrying to the prison. As they rounded the corner of Metroplex and Fortress Highway 1, they noticed a bot walking calmly toward them, a rifle slung over their shoulder. They glanced at each other, then slowed to a halt waiting warily as the bot walked closer.

It was a beautifully handsome bot with brilliant shades of emerald green on his armor. He walked calmly without emotion, a sniper's practice rifle slung over his shoulder. He slowed, then stopped looking at both of them without expression. Springer stepped closer. "Hi. May I see your rifle?" he asked.

The bot nodded, handing it over. Springer checked it and saw that it had been fired. Looking at the bot, he considered his flat affect. "Were you at the prison?"

"Yes, I was," the bot answered calmly.

"Did you fire this rifle at someone there?" Springer asked.

"I did." The handsome bot nodded.

"I see," Springer said glancing at Drift. He handed him the rifle, then gently gripped the bot's arm. "I would like you to come with me. I think we need to go back to the prison and wait for Prime to come."

The bot nodded and turned walking quietly along with Springer and Drift until they reached the Control Building and entered, disappearing inside.

-0-On the way

It was a grim group who walked along the highway heading for the prison. They were silent, each with their own thoughts as they walked to the scene of the crime. Springer had told them that they had picked up the probable shooter and were waiting in the Control and Operations Center. They had also brought the body of the dead bot there placing him on a table in the command room for Ratchet to examine.

They turned up the long drive entering the building, passing grim faced bots. Inside, the room was silent as bots stood around the edges, a single one sitting on a chair silently. The table that usually dominated the command center of Cybertronian operational posts held the body of the bot who had been shot dead nearby in Cell Block B. He was leaking energon so there was a towel wrapped around his helm. The rest of his body was limp and gray, the spark that animated the victim long gone to the Matrix.

Prime glanced at Ratchet and nodded, the big lanky medic walking to look at the figure on the table. He glanced over the chassis, examined the limbs, then peered at the helm by lifting the towel. He looked at both sides, moving the victim's helm side-to-side. It was a through and through, the energon bullet entering one side of the victim's helm and going out the other. Death would have been instantaneous. He probably didn't even know he was dead when the bullet hit him it was that fast in all likelihood.

Ratchet glanced at Prime and the others. "He was shot through the helm by an energon slug from a long range rifle. The type of wound is consistent with a sniper-type rifle. It went in his right temple, through his processor and out the left side. It was an instantaneous death, Prime. He probably didn't even know what happened."

Optimus nodded and looked at a grim faced Springer and silent Drift. "Who is this?"

"This is a new refugee named Jade. He was walking toward the city with a rifle over his shoulder," Springer said handing over the weapon taken from the suspect. "It has been fired once. I asked him if he had been the shooter and he said yes."

Prime nodded. "Has someone alerted Barron and Blackstone? This mech will need to be represented. Nothing that he says even with agreement will be admissible in a hearing or trial. We need to wait for them to arrive."

Springer nodded. "I have alerted them. They're coming. Barron is celebrating the bonding of his grandson and Blackstone was at a party."

Prime nodded and watched Ratchet check the suspect over. He appeared to be without emotion and sat compliantly following Ratchet's gentle ministrations. A sound in the doorway alerted all of them that Blackstone and Barron had arrived. Both of them paused with Prowl and Prime. Optimus filled them in. Blackstone nodded. "I will be representing this mech myself given the gravity of the offense, Optimus."

Prime nodded and looked at Barron. "I would like to have an interview of the suspect with both of you present. I am aware that nothing that is said may be presented at trial. I am concerned that this might not be the effort of one mech. I am interested in security for the city right now."

They both nodded. "If we can adjourn to the conference room nearby," Barron said.

Prime turned and gave orders, the group relevant rising along with the silent mech. They walked into the conference room and sat. Prime considered the mech a moment, then leaned forward on his elbows. "What is your name?" he asked.

The mech looked at him, then all the others. "Jade," he said.

"This is Barron and Blackstone. Blackstone is head of the Public Defenders Office in the Justice Department of our city and colony. He has volunteered to represent you in this matter. I want to ask you questions. If he asks you not to answer, you should listen to him. He has your best interests in spark."

The mech looked at him and nodded. "All right."

Prime sat back. "Did you shoot this mech?"

He looked at Blackstone, then Prime. "Yes, I did."

"May I ask why you did?" Prime asked as the door opened and Jarro entered with a colleague. They moved to the wall with the others and paused to listen.

"I shot him because he deserved it."

Prime considered that. "You knew him."

"I did."

"Did he harm you in some way?" Prime asked.

"Yes, he did."

"I can assume it was in some other place then," Prime asked.

Jade nodded. "It was."

"On Cybertron."

"Yes."

Prime paused. "Is it possible for you to tell us?"

Jade looked at him, then the others. "Who are these mechs?"

"They are security and some of my senior officers. Some of them are here to help you like Blackstone. That mech is Jarro. He will ask you questions too so that we can understand what happened here and why. It would help a lot if we can know your grievance against the deceased."

Jade looked at Blackstone who considered things a moment. "Nothing said here counts later?" Blackstone asked.

Prime nodded.

"You can tell us what you can, Jade. I will help you. Do your best." Blackstone said quietly. He patted Jade's servo and moved closer.

Jade looked at him and nodded. He turned to look at Prime. He was silent a moment, then he began. "I was different on Cybertron. I was poor but my genitors loved me and did their best. You know how it was."

Prime nodded silently. It was very quiet in the room.

"They went to work as usual when I was a sub adult. They didn't come back. I didn't know what had happened. I heard that someone had gathered up a lot of workers at the plant and taken them away to work in an energon mine. It was when the shortages began and things began to get bad. They didn't come back. I waited. I don't think they're dead. I would know." He sat in a daze of misery and shock, the dullness of his tone a sharp contrast with his enormous beauty.

They listened, all of them knowing exactly what he was saying. The high castes were grave, the low simmering. All of it was a terrible thing. For all that Prime tried to do, much injustice had happened in the maelstrom of the downfall from the imposition of the Clampdown and the rise of anarchy and Megatron.

"I was on my own. I was different then, pure white helm to ped. I was very good looking but not very good at fending off predators. This mech was a predator. He was a very bad mech. I got away from him after a while and learned that the only way to survive was to be smarter and tougher than the freaks. I studied, I changed, I buried that little mech under a hard layer of gloss. I became exclusive and protected. It made me invisible to the world, that level of protection and exclusivity. Most of the mechs in this town haven't got a clue what I had to do to survive. I walk around and get stares but no one knows who I was on Cybertron." He looked at Prime. "I am a survivor."

Prime nodded. "When did you decide to shoot Retro?"

"I came here and got an apartment. I went to the Bulletin Board and searched for my mech, my Beray. I wanted to find him on the rolls. He wasn't there. I checked for him and everyone who would know me and who I was from the old orns. That is when I saw his name. I checked for his location and found out he was in the brig. Then I saw the Watch remove him to the prison. It made it all easier."

"You are in the Home Guard. Was that deliberate? A way to get to Retro?" Prime asked.

Jade nodded. "It was. I would need to be a long shot to get him and it was easy to stand in the darkness and watch him. He had habits. They were his downfall, his habits."

It was silent a moment, then Blackstone looked at Prime. "What now? I want to know where he's going from here."

"I believe he can stay in the brig until we get him screened," Prime said. "What is the likelihood he will shoot another person?"

Jarro shrugged. "Very low, Optimus. I think the idea of putting him there is sound. I don't want him to self injure until we can examine him better."

Prime nodded and looked at Ratchet who stood solemnly nearby. "Ratchet?"

"I want him protected against that. This mech has a very flat affect. I don't like it."

"My Beray is coming. I am waiting for him. When he comes it will be good. He loves me and I love him. He doesn't care about all of it," Jade said looking at Prime. "He's a good mech. He's a bookkeeper. I met him in Iacon. I'm waiting for him because he will come. We promised each other when the city fell. If we didn't hook up to go together we would find each other no matter what. He's coming here."

Prime looked at the young mech and felt old. He nodded. "We can hope." He glanced at Springer. "Please take Jade to the brig. Have him on constant watch. Blackstone, if you could go and help settle him in."

Blackstone nodded.

"I'll come too," Jarro said.

They both stood up, Jade following, Springer in the lead and walked to the doorway and beyond. The others would sit and stand silently a moment before all would turn to the body of Retro who lay on the table in the middle of the room.

Dead.

-0-TBC

04-19-13