A week later, at G.U.N. HQ, soldiers lined an aisle. At one end of the aisle was the door, the other end had Aleena, Topaz, the G.U.N. Top Brass, Rouge, E123-Omega, Maria, Sonic, and Optimus. Aleena sat on a throne as Topaz stood at her right. “Bring out the prisoner!” called Aleena. Soldiers on each end of the aisle gave drumrolls as the door opened to reveal two soldiers on either side of a hand-cuffed Shadow. They escorted him down the aisle and approached the throne. They stopped in front of the throne. “Mr. Shadow, I always knew this day would come, given your career,” remarked Aleena. “Are you prepared to face the charges?”
“I am prepared,” answered Shadow.
“Topaz, read the charges.” Topaz unfurled a scroll and read from it.
“‘We, the officers and soldiers of the Guardian Units of Nations, being of sound mind and judgment, hereby make the following charges against Agent Shadow: one, that he did knowingly and willfully perform above and beyond the call of duty on countless occasions, and two, most seriously, that he has earned the admiration and respect of the entire organization.’” She closed the scroll. “How do you plead?”
“Guilty,” answered Shadow.
“Then, at the recommendation of your friends and colleagues,” declared Aleena, “I hereby sentence you to be promoted to the position of Supreme Commander of G.U.N. to serve as my military advisor with all the rights and privileges thereto. May Chaos have mercy on your soul.” Shadow’s escort then removed the handcuffs as Topaz brought out a military dress jacket for someone Shadow’s size. Shadow put it on and stood to attention. “Congratulations, Commander Shadow.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” replied Shadow.
“Hip hip!” called Optimus.
“Huzzah!” replied everyone else.
“Hip hip!”
“Huzzah!”
“Hip hip!”
“Huzzah!” Everyone then clapped.
The celebration party went on for a good hour. Shadow shook a lot of hands. To his friends, it was clear that he was uncomfortable and ready to get back to his usual home. Sonic just could resist ribbing the poor guy. “Weight of command getting you down already?” he whispered.
“Ha ha, very funny!” growled Shadow. “You know, you’re gonna feel the same way when you take the throne!”
“…Yeah, I probably will, so I’m gonna enjoy a little more joking around until then.” Aleena then tapped something against her glass and signaled for quiet. The room’s noise ceased.
“Thank you all,” she began. “This day is not only for Shadow, but for his new starship. In accordance with the Pax Galactica, all civilizations that crossed the faster-than-light threshold must send their flagships out on an annual mission of the Military Head’s choosing. For us, that means Shadow. I know what some of you are thinking, ‘But we only have one F.T.L capable ship, and that belongs to Tails!’ Well, you’re right in that the Blue Typhoon is Tails’ ship, but that’s no longer the case. While the Autobots were pursuing the Decepticons on their journey to Cybertron, we’ve constructed more ships, thanks to the data we’ve acquired from the Decepticons’ Harbinger and the Autobots. Thanks to them, the Blue Typhoon is the first of the Typhoon-class of fighter craft carrier starships. Thanks to the help of the newly established Naval Construction Contract, we’ve got three more classes of starship; Alliance-class destroyers, Realm-class corvettes, and Nebula-class science vessels. Today, we’re going to officially christen the name of the Mobian Fleet’s flagship, Shadow’s ship. Follow me, everyone!” They followed Aleena to the hangar the ship was docked in. It looked like an arrowhead with two warp nacelles connected to a star-drive section mounted on the arrowhead’s aft. A small dome rested on the top of the arrowhead, marking where the bridge was. Sheets were covering the name and registry number wherever it was printed. “Shadow,” called Aleena, “step forward.” Shadow did so as Aleena handed him a printout of the dedication plaque that hung up on the bridge as well as a champagne bottle. Shadow read the name and grinned.
“Did you have a hand in naming this thing?” he asked Aleena.
“I…may have had some influence.” Shadow grinned at her blatant coyness. He then raised the bottle against the ship’s hull.
“I hereby dub thee…the MSS Enterprise!” He smashed the bottle successfully and the sheets were removed. On the arrowhead section was something that would make any Star Trek fan squee uncontrollably; MSS Enterprise, NCC-1701! Mobius had constructed a real-life Enterprise and Optimus was grinning like a maniac!
“Well, Shadow,” he chuckled, “looks like you’ve become the first Enterprise Captain!”
“It looks that way,” replied Shadow.
Once the party wound down, Optimus took a drive to the outskirts of Station Square. After at least ten minutes, he arrived at the ruins of the old Autobot base. His holo-form stepped out and simply walked through the ruins, imagining what it once was. He stopped in the old Command Center and looked up to the destroyed monitor, imagining Jazz telling a joke to Teletraan 1. He then heard another vehicle approaching and looked to see Hot Rod’s holo-form stepping out of his vehicle mode. Hot Rod smiled. “Reminiscing?” he asked.
“Yeah,” sighed Optimus. “It was home for us.”
“I remember sneaking into your storage bay and grooving along to Redbone.”
“Your speed impressed Sonic when you came up here.”
“…You think time will be kind to this place? I mean, as kind as it can be? It DID go before its time.”
“I think so. I’ve heard it said that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives. Lately, I’ve been thinking of time as a companion that goes with us on a journey and reminds us to cherish every moment, because it’s never gonna come again. What we leave behind isn’t as important as how we lived. After all, we’re only mortal.” Hot Rod smirked.
“Speak for yourself, Prime. I plan to live forever.” Optimus grinned. He then took the Matrix out of his chest. It was still empty. Hot Rod then sighed in disappointment. “You know, I was kind of hoping I’d still get a shot at that thing.”
“Maybe you still will,” mused Optimus. “Somehow, I doubt I’m the last of the Primes, just the last of the Second Dynasty. Maybe, once it’s full again, the Matrix will choose you as the first of the new Dynasty. It’d be nice to see how Rodimus Prime will handle himself now that Unicron’s out of the picture.” The two holo-forms then headed back to their respective vehicle modes and headed off.