The Diego Diaries: Aftermath 2 (419)
-0-Late that night
Ratchet crept into the apartment taking care not to make too much noise. Pausing to look around, he walked to the infants' rooms to check on them. Moving down the row, he peered into beds tucking in blankets here and there. Leaving them, he walked to the berth room and sat down to lay back wearily on the soft bed. He vented a sigh, then rolled over and snuggled in the usual manner.
It was silent a moment.
:Ratchet:
"Ironhide:
:How do you feel?:
:Tired. A little bit sad and a lot angry. We lost a number of individuals, Ironhide. They tried so hard to get here and they didn't make it:
It was silent a moment.
:We'll slag Galvatron, I promise. That mech has screws loose:
:That mech is the spawn of Megatron and Shockwave. He didn't have a chance:
:Too bad. For him: Ironhide rubbed Ratchet's shoulder. :The sparklings were good:
:Good. I miss them: Ratchet snuggled closer. :How is Nitro?:
:Distraught. He feels he could've saved Combo if he'd tried harder:
:You told him the error of his ways?: Ratchet asked.
:I did. Doesn't help much. I blamed myself for not saving my genitors and I wasn't even close to them at the time:
:You always were into self abuse: Ratchet said with a grin. :Good night, Ironhide:
:Good night, Ratchet:
-0-At the Metroplex Femme, Youngling, Sparkling and Elder Hospital, Autobot City, Mars
Gypsy walked to her office and put the stack of datapads down. Cambo was home with the younglings and she was here overseeing the worst cases herself. They were on the edge but she was hopeful. She was convinced that they would survive and in her thinking was the odd notion that if she was here she could make it happen. Its what made her so loved and the Wrecker medic of choice. Sitting down in her chair at her desk, she tapped her computer and scanned the data. It was promising she thought as she pulled datapads of individuals to scan for clues to their revival.
-0-On the beat
They walked on the route that their leader and his bond took on their nightly rounds of the city. Springer and Drift were still on Earth and the schedule had been shifted to accommodate that fact. How long they would be, no one knew. Two mechs walked through the cold night heading along the cobblestone path that led around the lip of the former quarry that was now Mare Tranquilitatis. They would be walking all around Autobot City for the rest of the night.
-0-Around the city
Barron sat on his chair reading briefs. His bond, an elderly mech who was a calligraphy expert and artifact appraiser, Alto looked around the corner. "Barron, you must come to recharge. You have a lot of cases to manage over the next few orns and you need your rest."
Barron looked up and nodded. "I will come shortly, Ali. I'm going over the reports from the preliminary hearing for Jade."
"Do you wish to discuss this?" Alto asked as he moved to sit on the couch across from his bond.
Barron considered that, then nodded. "It was an illuminating few joors," he said.
-0-In a hearing room some time before
Burnoff and his genitors had left to go to the probation office to get their new ruling on the way. As they left, Beray and Jade entered the hearing room. Barron along with Semi, Stepper and an array of experts waited for them to gather information for Prime's hearing at some future date. They sat and looked at the group arrayed around them with terror.
Jade sat intensely still, his expression shuttered of emotion, his body language buttoned down as tightly as could be. His grip on the servo of Beray was deathlike.
"Beray, Jade, welcome to a preliminary hearing into the data regarding your condition and emotional state relevant to the actions taken by you against Retro. We're here to talk about how you are, how you're doing as well as what's being done and can be done to help you become stronger and more well," Barron said gently.
Jade stared at the tabletop, his affect closed off and suffering.
Beray turned to him and squeezed his servo. "Jade, I think it would be good to try to listen. If you can't I will, okay?" he asked softly.
Jade didn't move or speak. He gripped Beray's servo with his own and sat silently.
Beray looked at the others, then Jade. "I will listen for you, Jade." He looked at Barron. "I will do that."
Blackstone who was their counsel looked at Barron. "I will, too."
Barron nodded, then turned to Jarro. "Jari, what can you tell us that will help?"
"Jade is at this point suffering from post traumatic stress. He's going through a traumatic storm of emotions that are bound up not only with the actions for which this preliminary hearing is about but also the re-emergence of the memories that precipitated the event. We as a consequence of it have instituted daily counseling sessions with the staff of the Processor Health Department.
"We've also worked out a series of tests to measure whether Jade is even responsible for his actions at the time due to the state of his processor. All of that data we have here," Jarro said handing over a pair of datapads. "The first is the results of testing and the other is a breakdown of the rules and laws that in Jade's condition should be considered as mitigating circumstances. I'm not sure who will be presenting and defending the case but that information goes to both counsels."
Semi nodded. "I will facilitate that. Tell me about his daily activities and schedule if you please."
"We've placed a device into Jade's chassis that allows us to track his whereabouts. We also have a medical monitoring device as well to ensure that he's safe and medically sound. He's in the custody of Beray at all times and is happy when he is. He's dealing with a lot of recovered memories right now but the counseling sessions which are held at their apartment everyday are helping him deal with them.
"We're working out firewalls for them as they're dealt with. Some that are too strong for him and serve no purpose in his recovery are firewalled right away. We're working through this together step by step. The more he acknowledges, the better it will be eventually but some things are too costly to deal with and that's where I help him," Jarro said.
Stepper nodded. "No one on Cybertron ever had the talent for firewalls that you do, Jarro."
Jarro nodded. "I think that some things should be dealt with and some not. The overall goal here is helping Jade become well and have the opportunity to find his way again. That's aided in measures untold by the presence and assistance of Beray."
Beray listened to everyone as they discussed the outcome of tests that stated Jade suffered from depression, an incredible weariness and fearfulness that outcomes facing them would divide him from Beray.
"It's the conclusion of our data, counseling and discussions that any separation from Beray would lead to very grave consequences," Jarro said sitting back.
Semi nodded, then glanced at Blackstone. "I have latitude here, Blackstone, to make some decisions regarding Jade and his interim condition. Given the data collected, I'll continue to have Jade stay with Beray, attend his college classes and wear his devices. Continue counseling sessions on the schedule that you have them. I'll forward the data to Prime and any written reports that you have."
They nodded.
Semi turned to Jade. "Jade."
It took a moment, then haunted frightened optics met Semi's own. He didn't speak but stared at Semi silently.
"Jade, we want you to stay with Beray and continue as you are. We're very happy with your progress," Semi said gently.
Jade stared at him, then Beray. He looked at Semi once more nodding slightly. "Okay."
They chatted a moment with both, then Jade and Beray stood with the group. They walked out of the room together. The door closed, then everyone sat again.
"Jade has no faith in the system. He's very afraid of what might come of this thus his demeanor. He's more open and emotionally … normal in counseling," Jarro said.
They nodded, then continued finalizing a packet for the two counsels and one to Prowl as Clerk of Court for capital cases and adjutant for Prime.
...At home
Aldo sat back in the chair with a sad expression. "Poor youngling. What a traumatic life but then too many of our people have the same problem. I wish it were different, Barron."
"I do, too," Whistler replied. He would stay up for a while, then go to bed with a great sense of weariness.
-0-Earth
The two dark cars sitting near the camera crew and myriad important figures were innocuous enough but for the tiny symbols of their faction that were visible if one looked toward the front wheel wells where they were attached. Tiny Autobrands were visible if you really looked. Otherwise, the two dark cars were like any other vehicles on a movie set.
The filmmakers were blowing up things as trucks representing Optimus Prime and what appeared to be Motormaster chased and were chased down a country road. They would drive through explosive devices that blew up white powder filled charges simulating blasts and flying debris. The takes were done over and over with the crew working diligently. Then at last when it was getting late they called the day.
Crew members worked to secure equipment as the artistic and directorial staff worked out what to do with the film shot and what would come next. By the time that Michael Bay and a young man holding his plan books and electronic devices began to leave, they didn't notice the cars were different in any tangible way. Pausing by the black sedans, Bay laid out information for the next day's shoot, then crawled in with his assistant. They would go over notes without noticing that the driver wasn't the same as the other car followed. It would follow with a holographic driver and no one else. The crew that was scheduled to leave with it were left behind in the field.
-0-Nitro
He stood in the doorway of the hospital room watching as his genitors sat half asleep in chairs next to the bed where his younger brother lay hooked up to more machines than gave him comfort to see. Ope' and Zeta had been by earlier checking on the genitors but not going into the room. Combo looked too terrible and he was falling in and out of consciousness.
A doctor had been sent for in their fear and worry who had examined the youngling, then put him into medical stasis. His affect had settled and he was more calm in his recharge. It'd been an incredibly relieving thing.
Nitro felt oceans of regret flow through him even though he'd done all that he could to spare his brother the posting that landed him here. Combo had been shipped off when he was on duty elsewhere. It'd been his poor luck to land in the sector mismanaged by Galvatron. The captain of his group, Barc would have his undying gratitude because it would appear that he'd taken a squadron of mechs and attacked the prison where Combo and others were held rather than just fleeing without them.
No one no matter how badly off they were had been left behind. All of them were carried away running across the Empire ahead of pursuit. It wasn't the intense pursuit that would've happened earlier under Megatron's rule. Too many of their side was weary and the big topic on everyone's processor was not that they were going to run but when.
He walked to the windows in the corridor nearby. The city was filled with light, its illumination from all points including towers filled with families all around the hospital and city. This was his home, the place he loved, the place his family lived and prospered. His family was his entire life with his genitors finally getting the ease they deserved from the start. Now his brother was here and his convalescence was going to be a long complicated thing.
Two steps forward, ten back.
He would personally kill Galvatron himself when the moment presented itself. He owed it to his family, his brother, his genitors and the city. That mech would not live long enough to bring this to their shores. He would personally see to it.
He walked back to the room of his brother. Outside, the city continued onward into the deepening night.
-0-Earth
They turned out onto the highway heading toward the city where the film crew lived during shooting. Michael Bay sat talking to his assistant giving him points and information for the filming the next day. As they were occupied they didn't notice that the vehicles turned down a dirt road heading away from their original direction. The cars disappeared down country roads heading for a quiet place nearby.
-0-TBC September 3, 2013 edited 7.7-14 12-04-2022