While the Decepticons dealt with their own in-house problems and Drift and Nightbird patched things up between them, Optimus sat in his ready room. He was unsure of how the battle was going to be conducted. His thoughts were interrupted by a door chime. \u201cCome in,\u201d he called. Treadshot then entered the room. Optimus stood up. \u201c\u2026Dad.\u201d He then winced at how slow he said that. Treadshot raised his hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all right,\u201d he assured. \u201cI was an absent father.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot by choice, from what I recall. I never got a clear answer on what the charges were for your exile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Simply because I was found out. Majoris was just as Deceptiphobic as Dion was and regretfully, so was the Autobot Council. After the war, they were more interested in punishing their enemies. They kept my origins from Dion because he was the perfect soldier and their ideal Autobot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Did you manage to talk to him?\u201d Treadshot winced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s\u2026not in a receptive state. In fact, he\u2019s not in a sober-enough state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s over-energized?! Where?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLast I saw him was at the bar in Four-Forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCome on!\u201d Optimus and Treadshot dashed to Four-Forward and found Ultra Magnus with his face on the table and an empty bottle in his hand while three other bottles surrounded him. \u201cDion! Dion, we need to talk to you! \u2026Dion, are\u2026are you all right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGOOOOONNNE!\u201d wailed Dion as he suddenly sat up. He had clearly been crying and turned to Engex for counseling instead of Snarl. \u201cIsh all gone! All of ish gone! Bye bye WOOHOO shee ya!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDion, what happened?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne minnit yer leedin a teem uf bosh to help Ahdobotsh wage der baddle to deshtroy de eefil forshesh uf de Deshepticonsh\u2026den SHUDENLEE ya find yershelf\u2026shuckin down Engex wif\u2026Solush Prime and her liddle shishter!\u201d Dion then drunkenly and sadly laughed to himself. Optimus arched an eyebrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026I think you\u2019ve had enough high grade for today,\u201d he remarked as he managed to take the bottle out of Dion\u2019s hand. \u201cLet\u2019s get you out of here, Dion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDONCHU GEDDIT?!\u201d Dion pulled Optimus right up to his face. \u201cYU SHEE DA HAT?!\u201d It was then Optimus noticed that Dion was wearing a Transformer-sized newspaper hat. \u201cI AM MINIMUSH\u2026AMBUSH!\u201d Dion laughed like a lunatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSNAP OUT OF IT, BOY!\u201d snapped Treadshot. He separated the bots, took off the newspaper hat, and slapped Dion in the face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDAD!\u201d protested Optimus. Other than Optimus\u2019 protest, the bar was silent after the slap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026I-I-I\u2026I\u2019m sorry,\u201d stammered Dion. \u201cYou\u2019re right; I\u2019m just a little depressed, that\u2019s all.\u201d He then stood up and headed to the door. \u201cI-I can get through this!\u201d He then collapsed to his knees and broke down. \u201cOH, I\u2019M A SHAM!\u201d he wailed as his hands went to the floor as Optimus and Treadshot tried to get him to quiet down. \u201cLOOK AT ME! MY WHOLE MILITARY CAREER WAS A LIE! \u2026The\u2026the hat looked good?! Tell me the hat looked good! The apron was a bit much!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat apron?!\u201d asked Treadshot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be easier if Ratchet fixes him up,\u201d declared Optimus. \u201cDad, help me get him to Repair Bay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, son.\u201d Optimus and Treadshot then each put one of Dion\u2019s arms around their shoulders and had to drag him to Ratchet, since he wasn\u2019t moving his feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYEARS OF ACADEMY TRAINING WASTED!\u201d cried Dion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dion woke up on a repair berth as Ratchet checked over Thundercracker, of all bots. \u201cDecepti-!\u201d yelped Dion. As Ratchet and Thundercracker looked at Dion, he sat back down. \u201cAh, what\u2019s the point?\u201d He felt a major processor-ache.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn the table,\u201d directed Ratchet. There was Energon and a pair of tablets on the bedside table. Dion popped the tablets into his mouth and drank the Energon, thus swallowing the tablets. \u201cThundercracker wanted to talk to you about something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Sorry, I must still be over-energized,\u201d muttered Dion. \u201cFor a minute there, I though you said Thundercracker wanted to talk to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe did. And I do,\u201d replied Thundercracker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Is this a hallucination?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDion, will you just talk to him already?!\u201d grunted Ratchet. \u201cEven Snarl would suggest it!\u201d He gave Thundercracker one final look-over. \u201cAnd that\u2019s a clean bill of health for you. For all the times we shot each other, I have to give you Seekers respect for how seriously you take your health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAn unhealthy Seeker can\u2019t fly very well, so we kind of HAVE to take our personal health seriously,\u201d replied Thundercracker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, that removes a lot of stress on this old medic. I\u2019ll just leave you two be.\u201d Ratchet headed off to another area. Dion looked at Thundercracker. An awkward silence filled the space between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026Something I can do for you?\u201d Dion finally asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou could accept the position as Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord,\u201d replied Thundercracker. \u201cYou know that Optimus made the offer to me? I had to refuse, saying that you were better for the position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026No.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhoa, hey, maybe those pills aren\u2019t working yet, but-\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, Thundercracker. For the first time in my life, I AM thinking clearly. You Cons were right all along, I\u2019m NOT anything. I\u2019m…I\u2019m just a cog. Just a small, insignificant cog in a machine that wouldn\u2019t care if I stopped working.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHold on a cycle there! The Autobots wouldn\u2019t be talking about you if you WERE insignificant!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, it\u2019s true! They DO talk about you! Look, Optimus needs a bot that he knows has the experience to lead an army if he can\u2019t, and you led armies more than he did!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy would you, of all bots, pick me, a Deceptiphobe?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecause you\u2019ve done some reexamination? Let me tell you, before I killed Firestar, I was a raging Autophobe, as bad as you were a Deceptiphobe. But we have a chance to change that now! Don\u2019t misunderstand, our sins can never be fully purged, but we can make sure we do better in the future. I was already told how to atone and try to make up for Firestar\u2019s murder as best I can, maybe being an Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord what YOU need. With Optimus as the Galaxy Convoy, he needs someone as his second-in-command on that front!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy would you suggest me then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy would I suggest you?! LOOK AT YOU!\u201d Dion\u2019s optics flickered as he looked to Thundercracker. \u201cYou\u2019re the Autobot War Hero, Ultra Magnus! Any kid would give their Spark to recreate your famous victories! You\u2019re the best law-bot in all history! You kept order throughout the force! You helped Sentinel win over us! Your shoulders have missile batteries in them! You are the greatest bot around! \u2026Besides, you never went through the hell of killing a kid. I can\u2019t trust myself with that kind of power.\u201d The Repair Bay went silent again. \u201c\u2026I don\u2019t know, maybe I was being goofy. I just figured you would want a command position again.\u201d Dion then looked at the data-pad on his bedside table. He picked it up and read it to himself. As he read, he thought about what Thundercracker said, then his face became one of determination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While the Decepticons dealt with their own in-house problems and Drift and Nightbird patched things up between them, Optimus sat in his ready room. He was unsure of how the battle was going to be conducted. His thoughts were interrupted by a door chime. \u201cCome in,\u201d he called. Treadshot then entered the room. Optimus stood […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3936,"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":[98,685],"tags":[146,337],"class_list":["post-5039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transformers-mobian-chronicles","category-transformers-mobian-chronicles-arc-24-the-gathering","tag-sonic","tag-transformers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5039","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=5039"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5040,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5039\/revisions\/5040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}