Optimus had heard of the situation between Scattershot and Afterburner. He summoned both bots to his office. Both bots stood there, not looking forward to this dressing down. \u201c\u2026Well?\u201d asked Optimus icily. \u201cAny reason why I shouldn\u2019t have you removed from the Autobots?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re well within your rights to do so, Sir,\u201d answered Scattershot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m not talking about my rights! Answer my question!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have an answer!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPrime, we had our weapons set to stun\u2026\u201d offered Afterburner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have even thought to pull your weapons out at all!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSir, what we did WAS rash, yes\u2026\u201d replied Scattershot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRash?! It was utterly stupid! And before you two even THINK on pulling out the newborn card on me, let me remind you two that you were born with adult minds! I have given you and your team a lot of leeway when it comes to training, but in case you\u2019ve forgotten, we\u2019re at war and we need functional teams with good communication abilities and all teammates with their heads set on a common goal! There is a limit to how far I will allow brotherly rivalry and you two just reached it! Until you all learn how to function as a team, you are not going to be deployed! Is that clear?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re benching us?!\u201d shouted Afterburner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUntil you all learn how to function as a team, and that includes YOU as well, Scattershot, then yes, you\u2019re benched! Dismissed!\u201d Afterburner snarled, then turned away and left the office. Scattershot stayed behind. \u201c\u2026Didn\u2019t you hear me?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, Sir.\u201d Scattershot didn\u2019t move, his face now a stony gaze leveled at Optimus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026All right, you clearly have something on you mind, say it! But know this, if you suggest that I only let you be deployed, then forget it! This isn\u2019t something you can run away from so easily.\u201d Scattershot steeled himself as he explained himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI confirmed what Afterburner heard from Lightspeed and his reaction? It just proved that what I did was right in making sure they don\u2019t need to know ALL the details! Now, I told him about my suspicions of us not being ready to use the Enigma, knowing full well he couldn\u2019t handle the truth, and you know what? He proved me right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cScattershot\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what else to do! Strafe\u2019s a big bag of nerves, Nosecone\u2019s glued to his computer, Afterburner thinks with his thrusters, and Lightspeed\u2019s always distracted by something new! I can\u2019t get them all to work together, to think with one mind! How the hell do you get the Autobots on exactly the same page?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t, not anymore.\u201d Scattershot arched an eyebrow. \u201cI think I know the issue here. It\u2019s what bricked my connection to the Matrix.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026I thought that was Nemesis Prime that did that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis was way before all that, before the Decepticons even arrived here. During my first year here, I learned that Mobius has a mage-population of its own. I was starting to feel high and mighty after learning that. I was arrogant in thinking that my solutions were the best ones and the Primes severed themselves from me. I went on a journey as Orion Pax, it\u2019s what led me to meet Sira and Natalie. Sira gave me a swift kick in the skidplate, told me I was turning evil, and got me to get my act together. I didn\u2019t fill the Autobots on all the details and it led me to losing my magic. Scattershot, no one should demand that people think the same as you. That\u2019s what the Decepticons believe. We all have our own goals. With me, once the war is over, I\u2019m going to spend some time finding my successor and training them so they would be better than me at keeping the peace. For Prowl, he\u2019s going to retire from the Army and resume his position of Praxian Chief of Police. For Ratchet, he\u2019s retiring and going to live his remaining life in a little cottage. Goldbug, well, he saw his goal of getting Cliffjumper back to normal, so he\u2019s clearly got a new goal in mind. I\u2019m headstrong at times, but my bots get me to slow down and look at alternate avenues. Yes, sometimes we proceed with my original idea, but other times, their ideas are better than mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen what\u2019s the point of being a leader if your ideas aren\u2019t the only ones?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe point of being a leader is to guide many people to the rare one goal they have on their minds. The different points of view are what make a team strong. A good leader understands this. More importantly, a good brother accepts this. Right now, I need you to be a brother, not a mere leader, which is why no one on your team, not even you, is permitted to be deployed. You need to know what your brothers want from you as much as what you want from them. Dismissed.\u201d Scattershot still had a look of doubt on his face, but it was softer than earlier. He turned on his heels and left. Optimus sat back at his desk and ran his hands over his face. He sat in silence for a few minutes until the door chime interrupted his thoughts. \u201cYes?\u201d he called.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s Chromia,\u201d answered the person on the other side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCome in.\u201d Chromia entered the office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou look like a commander who had to give his soldiers a dressing-down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWas it that obvious?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI adopted the same look when I led a team of bots and had to discipline them once or twice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI hate that I had to do it. I felt\u2026I don\u2019t know, wrong somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a pleasant feeling. Although, your need to discipline them was justified. Mine, on the other hand, they were just idiots.\u201d Chromia then smiled and giggled. \u201cAnd I mean they were IDIOTS! The whole incident started when\u2026\u201d She then went into a coughing fit! Optimus got up from his desk and knelt by her. Chromia held a hand up as her coughing stopped. \u201cI\u2019m okay,\u201d she gasped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t SOUND okay!\u201d replied Optimus. \u201cIf we were organics, I\u2019d say you were about to cough up a lung!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI assure you, it\u2019s just a slight cough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t SOUND slight!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOptimus, I promise you, I\u2019m\u2026!\u201d Another coughing fit then cut her sentence off. She recovered in the same amount of time as the last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat wasn\u2019t slight either. You\u2019re not dying, are you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, no, I\u2019m not gonna die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou better see Ratchet about this. If it interferes with your combat capabilities, I might lose a valuable soldier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI will. As soon as I get the chance, I will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m gonna hold you to that.\u201d Chromia nodded to Optimus, then left, leaving Optimus concerned for her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Optimus had heard of the situation between Scattershot and Afterburner. He summoned both bots to his office. Both bots stood there, not looking forward to this dressing down. \u201c\u2026Well?\u201d asked Optimus icily. \u201cAny reason why I shouldn\u2019t have you removed from the Autobots?\u201d \u201cYou\u2019re well within your rights to do so, Sir,\u201d answered Scattershot. \u201cI\u2019m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,667],"tags":[146,337],"class_list":["post-4235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transformers-mobian-chronicles","category-transformers-mobian-chronicles-arc-17-living-stories","tag-sonic","tag-transformers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4235"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4236,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4235\/revisions\/4236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}