The Diego Diaries: Festivale 11 (390) edited
-0-Earth
Mama Annie and Papa Leonard sat in the living room watching their giant screen television. It was an upgrade. If one was going to watch football, The Bridge and the other original programming from Mars as well as events like this one now, they needed high def.
And size. They needed big size.
Surround sound. That was a no brainer.
"Mama, are you good?" Mrs. Pastor Bob asked her mother-in-law as the tiny happy woman sat in her chair, all manner of stuff within reach.
"I am fine, honey," she said.
"How about you, Daddy?" she asked Papa Leonard as she sat beside her husband, Pastor Bob.
"I'm good, honey," he said as he glanced at Annie with a wink. She winked back as the family gathered for the special broadcast to Earth of a cultural event that they would only be able to see part of. That would be good enough for her. She clearly understood the meaning of propriety.
A bar in southern California near the Lennox hometown...
"This is amazing. There must be ten zillion bots there." -Man A
(nodding) "I know. You could get your pick of concept cars over there and never run out of sweet rides." -Man B
"I wish it was a demolition derby." -Man C
Man A and B nodded.
-0-Mars
Science Habitat:
The chronometer ticked away but no one was there. They were at the Temple as invited by Ultra Magnus after consultation with Prime. They had joined the Alpha team soldiers and their families, the few civilians who had unlimited access to events and others to be named later. No one was in the habitat to care who they were. All the residents hoped to accomplish was to stand next to the Hu An.
N.E.S.T. HQ, Autobot City, Mars
They crowded around every screen in the place as they watched the amazing event happening just outside their doors. It would be cutting off just before Prime reached the Temple. The first part, the walk from the Mare Tranquilitatis, Tower 2 down to the end of Metroplex Highway 2 where it would transform into Temple Road would be shown but cut off there. It would be a two mile trek in the midst of hundreds of thousands if not millions of bots.
Seymour Simmons sat at a table in the rec room watching the event as Charlotte Mearing watched across from him. "Imagine the leader of a country, not just the leader of a entire world walking unarmed through crowds like that on Earth," he said glancing at Mearing who sat transfixed by the spectacle.
"Wouldn't be done. This is ridiculous," Mearing said shaking her helm. "Anything can happen doing this."
"Apparently, its the way its done and nothing ever happens. Contrary to how we feel about our politicians, it would appear that the people here love theirs," Simmons said.
She glanced at him, then the screen. Prime had turned the corner at Metroplex Highway 2 going down its broad crowded boulevard toward the Temple. It would be a long progress but what made it intriguing was the utter silence of the crowd as he moved. Ten mechs, all of them bearing identical black paint schemes with several tattoos of different things, the Elite Guard, the Imperial Household Guard so named from Sentinel's time, the Autobrand … all of it was impeccable, walked proudly beside him. They moved with precision and intense dignity as they escorted the messianic figure of their Prime.
She got the symbolism, the intensity, the organization. What she wanted to see next was the substance. She never would. The screen would switch to innocuous views of the crowd as the important holy things began.
-0-Prime
He turned the corner and walked down the middle of the broad highway heading toward the Temple that was a long way down the road. From every rooftop and terrace, every corner and segment of street, highway and road, the people stood together. They held up their children and even their elderly genitors as he passed by giving them a glimpse of their warrior king as he walked with great solemnity and beauty among them on this historic and holy orn. They watched him, bowing as he came toward them and straightening only when he passed. The guards were handsome, elegant and incredibly proud of the moment, their duty and the one they escorted. Prime was Prime, his goodness and quality evident to all who watched. He was the central focus of their existence, the one common thread through which all the melodies of their complex society played. He walked like a god, like a conquering king but the warmth and welcome that he exuded didn't come from ego absorbing the moment as a personal triumph. It came from his deep abiding love for his people.
He passed through the crowds and they opened, closing behind him as all turned to watch him continue. Most of them had the download broadcast playing on their internals so that no matter where they stood, they would see everything happening around them even as they would feel the Matrix energy beginning to surround them.
Prime continued onward to the Temple on the holiest orn of the calendar. He had a date with the Matrix and the Pantheon. He would take that journey alone but he would carry with him all the hopes, dreams and wishes of the Cybertronian people no matter where they were ... here, there or anywhere else in the universe.
-0-Inside the Temple
They stood nervously, their red cowls immaculate. They were also temporary as on this orn they would cease to be acolytes but full fledged priests of the Temple. Gravitas, Templar, Eronus and Vras stood with the three priests including the senior, Lauren. Prime would confer upon them the blessings of the Matrix and they would be through with their probationary learning period. Then they would step forward to serve the Temple's needs and the well being of their people. When the visitation of the Prime was through, later that afternoon there would be sparks retrieved from the Well for three ecstatic families.
It would be glorious.
The humans stood on the platform built for them next to the 300 Hu An, a stone wall with a ramp designed for their viewing safety and pleasure. The steps of the Temple stretched up before them to the flat platform upon which the beautiful building sat. it was enormous, its doors open on all four sides. The holiest places were down below ground, a typical construction for cultures on Earth as well as abroad. Rooted in the earth, connected to the sky, it was as familiar to the humans as it was alien.
The walls were carved with images of the pantheon, some of them fifty feet tall. Will Lennox knew the image of Primus, Solus the Maker and Amalgomous Prime, the prankster and first transformer. They stood on either side of Primus while overhead the symbol of The One, a sun rising with light beams shooting from it was carved in the lintel over all the main doors. He was the explosion of creation, the force from which all things including universes and multi-verses came. There were glyphs proclaiming the greatness of the pantheon, all of whom were carved into the walls around the building, minus Megatronus of course.
Inside the building, lights were subtle and subdued as the sanctity of the vast expanse commanded introspection. The walls were covered with scripts from the Covenants and sacred verse from the history of their people. The artifacts inside that stood in for the destroyed Temple at Simfur were familiar and comforting, the work of talented artisans in league with the Temple priests and historians from the Museum and University. Walking in from all sides one went down a short flight of steps to the sanctuary where the AllSpark and Well of AllSparks resided. Nearby, in a room of its own, the Matrix Flame burned. It was personally tied into the Matrix that Prime bore and signaled his well being. If he died or left this dimension, it would go out. When he returned, it re-lit itself.
All was ready for Prime to come and go to the AllSpark. All were ready to await his return and hear the message if possible that he would bring. Then they would receive the blessing of Primus Himself as He came to show His love for them and their colony. They waited in expectation as the moments passed in the intense quiet of Prime's progress.
Larc stood with her people along the front edge of the crowd. The moment was fascinating and they watched with great interest and growing excitement. It was something that was laced through the vast crowd, the expectation that something big was coming. She had often felt it as she stood on her platform back home, the verandah that encircled her cloud house, the one high in the great trees of her home forest. It felt like the electricity that enveloped one just before a vast storm and torrential downpour. She half expected enormous thunderclaps and arcing plasma jets of lightning to appear before her before rain cascaded down. She stood watching with her people, paying tribute to the culture of their hosts and the enormous personal regard that she herself bore for their leader.
A rapping sound drew Ironhide's attention downward so he popped his hold and a tiny black yellow banded infant peered out. He looked up and smiled brilliantly. "Atar. What me?" he asked pointing around.
Ratchet snorted and peered inside, noting that Praxus was stretched out on blankets singing himself to sleep in the warm interior. Ratchet grasped Orion, then the hatch closed. Taking the little bot, Ironhide set him on his arm tucking him into his elbow with great practice. He grinned down at Orion who grinned at him. Then they both turned to watch as the silent ruffling of the crowd began to signal Prime's approach.
-0-Prime
He walked slowly allowing his people to see him. They held their children and elders up for a view, all of them gathering images for their own, images that would tell the future that yes, I was there on the day of holiness when the Prime walked to the Temple to speak to Primus. He passed slowly, the footfalls of his guards and his own the only sounds of significance in the vast array. The crowds stretched away as far as the optic could see in all directions. They stood silently, their concentration on him, both those who could see his actual self and those farther back who played the progress on their internals. It was unbelievably silent, the odd movement here and there the only sound beyond their footfalls. The guards were beautiful, incredibly dignified and precise. Prime was shined within an inch of his life the night before by the twins and the prim direct insistence of Prowl: "You will be polished. You after all are going to be speaking with Primus."
Prowl won.
He was glad now. He had come to accept with all its obligations the magnitude of what he represented to his people, the hope and dreams, the possibilities he embodied as the First Disciple of Primus. It was part of who he now was and even though he preferred simpler, more humble acknowledgements, he was proud and happy to oblige his people's needs. It also was a help when confronting a bad situation. His greatness was his shield against some of the darker forces arrayed against them and he had used it many times to save a losing situation. Now, he gave it with great dignity and grace to the people he served humbly and loved greatly.
Prowl stood next to Bluestreak holding Kaon. He waited for Optimus with great anticipation. He had looked beautiful that morning, the aura of the Matrix energy already beginning to suffuse him. He waited with great anticipation at the prospect of having an oracle from the Pantheon, perhaps Primus or The One Himself. He was confident that they would be well pleased with Optimus. He was the greatest Prime in the history of their people short of the Pantheon and Prowl without considering it blasphemous considered Optimus worthy of that status too.
Rambler who sat in Venture's arms leaned forward and smiled. Leaning back, he looked at his family. "Atar is coming," he said with great joy.
NOTE: Unicron himself referred to Optimus as the 'First Disciple of Primus' on TF: Prime I believe in season two. :D