Dreadnought's bitter words, magnified by the Prime's relic he wielded, had a devastating effect on all who heard them, echoing relentlessly in their minds.
"You were there, weren't you?" Orion kept his determined gaze on the elder of the High Council. His voice was firm, and he understood what the old bot had been through. Dreadnought's silence spoke volumes, casting a new light on the old Cybertronian's true identity.
"I am a survivor, boy," Dreadnought finally said. "Your generation judges my deeds as wrong, but you do not know the trials I endured to reach this point. For a hundred million years I have made countless decisions for the stability of our people. Whether they were right or wrong, that judgment belongs to you. But as long as we live, it proves my choices were prudent."
Orion fell silent, weighing the council leader's words against the High Council's actions from its founding to the present day. A new understanding dawned as he recognized the authority that only age and vast experience can confer. He sensed he must choose his next words with extreme care.
"I suppose your mentor taught you many lessons," Dreadnought continued, undeterred by the fact his colleagues could barely follow this intimate exchange. "But were you warned about the consequences that would follow that battle?"
That rare flash of sincerity took even Dreadnought by surprise. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had such an honest conversation about his opinions. For someone of his stature, engaging in such a deep conversation with someone as seemingly ordinary as Orion Pax was almost unimaginable.
"There is something about this boy… He sees beyond appearances, grasps the greater picture with a clarity even the most seasoned among us lack," the old elder mused, feeling a deep, growing certainty within him that he would never forget that name.
And yet, behind the precocious intellect and the aura of wisdom that cloaked his youth, there lingered an undeniable truth: in the eyes of the High Council's leader, Orion was still immature or, more precisely, naive.
"He does not yet understand the cruelty that forges reality... and that ignorance, sooner or later, will exact its price." He returned his focus to the young bot that had challenged him to a battle of wits.
Orion took a measured step forward, resolve shining in his optics. "Your Excellency, of all people, you know how splendid Cybertron once was. So, once again, I question you: Why have you never made an effort to restore our world to its former glory all these years?" His tone carried an appeal that cut to the heart of the ancient Cybertronian. "Surely you were never limited to merely replaying history. Why then did you abandon Cybertron, weakening our people in the process?"
His words rippled through the chamber with the force of a demand rather than an accusation. The small drone, broadcasting every moment, hovered inches from Dreadnought's face. For the first time, the council leader seemed visibly shaken.
"You think I abandoned Cybertron?"
Orion held his expression neutral, though his spark raced. "With all due respect, sir, in my view you no longer possess the strength to lead."
"Let me be clear to you, boy. To Megatron. And to all of Cybertron," Dreadnought declared, his voice swelling with a thunderous authority that seemed to echo through the chamber.
Megatron sensed a subtle yet undeniable shift in the atmosphere. There was a quiet force in the old leader's presence. It wasn't power in the traditional sense; it was something deeper. He noticed the old man's eyes glowing green, which made him pause and wonder about the cause.
He bristled inwardly as a pang of wounded pride crept beneath his armor. That spotlight should have been his, not his brother's. Orion's rebelliousness now cast a shadow over his ambitions. In that moment, he felt threatened in his claim to the title of Prime, but he quickly dismissed that thought; Orion neither deserved nor had the strength for such a thing.
"I will speak with absolute clarity," Dreadnought continued, turning his gaze to the camera, his optics blazing with conviction. "To every citizen across this world, hear me now: the Thirteen Primes have failed Cybertron!"
The blow was crushing and amplified by Liege Maximo's relic. Its impact was catastrophic. The relic amplified his will, but he did not realize that it was drawing more of his true feelings out of him.
"The Primes pledged to protect Cybertron, to rule with wisdom, yet all they wrought was war! And more War!" He pounded his fist upon the dais, voice echoing with righteous fury. "I witnessed their fall. They proved no more than beings like ourselves, far from the gods so many believed them to be!"
"Yet our culture still worships them! This temple, these statues, they exalt the Primes above all else!" Megatron shot back, pointing boldly at Dreadnought. "You dare besmirch their names with scorn? Has power consumed the little good sense you once possessed?"
Megatron spoke, attempting to seize the moment, an opening through which he might reclaim the spotlight and, with it, the trust of a people who had once placed their hopes upon his shoulders. Yet his intent scarcely had time to take root. Dreadnought's words cut through the air like a silent blade, interrupting him with an authority so absolute it left no room for defiance.
"I speak only truth!" Dreadnought bellowed, the relic's power intensifying his presence until his words thundered through every mind in that hall. "The Thirteen abandoned Cybertron, condemning billions of our citizens to death! Their endless wars drained our planet dry, sealing our fate!"
He slammed his fist on the table once more, his aura crackling with fury and contempt."You think changing your name to Megatron will alter anything? That stealing the name Megatronus grants you prestige?" His optics flared with a menacing intensity. "I know exactly what you seek, gladiator!"
"Then you know Cybertron needs new leadership!" Orion shot back, feeling his mind weighted by the elder's words. "Cybertron needs someone to unite us as we once were! You're so blinded by the Primes' anger that you can't see the real problem. You're giving in to your fears within your spark."
"You really think I am afraid?" Dreadnought roared, his voice thick with wrath. "A simple archivist like you dares to suggest I tremble in fear?!" The relic he bore flared with raw power, mirroring his indignation.
It was then that a sudden glimmer pierced Orion's mind, a subtle revelation, born of Dreadnought's cutting words and unwavering gaze. Gradually, the fog of doubt began to lift, and understanding at last settled in his spark.
"His rage is not born solely of past traumas… there is something far deeper," he realized, feeling the weight of that discovery settle on his shoulders. "He is afraid of that…"
Orion held his gaze unwavering, then spoke in a cold, measured tone: "No… what you truly fear is that Primus will choose a new Prime to lead."
His words struck the chamber like thunder, sending a shiver through Dreadnought and every member of the High Council.
"You don't merely fear losing your title as the Council's leader…" Orion continued, calm yet relentless. "You are afraid to move forward because you have already given up. You've lost faith that Cybertron can return to its golden age."
He stepped forward, eyes fixed on the time‑worn leader. "Hope is not the first to die, Dreadnought… it is the last spark to be extinguished. Yet you have spent so many years blinding yourself to the truth around you that you've forgotten how to discern the path forward. You sit in judgment of our world, imprisoned by old wounds and blind to our triumphs. The past matters only so far as it teaches us, but if you wield it merely to justify your actions, then you have learned nothing from history's mistakes."
Orion fixed his gaze on Dreadnought, allowing the silence to underscore the weight of his words. As the elder's gaze slowly softened, he continued, his voice firm and resonant: "Primus has not abandoned us," Orion declared, his voice resonating like restrained thunder. "He only waits… waits for someone worthy to guide Cybertron back to the path it should never have forsaken."
Dreadnought's jaw clenched, his expression flickering between rage and doubt. "You truly believe that Megatron or you deserve this burden?!" His tone mingled contempt with a sliver of uncertainty.
Orion offered a gentle, unwavering smile. "True power cannot be conquered by force... it must be deserved." His optics glowed with serene conviction. "Neither I nor Megatron have the right to claim it."
Megatron felt his irritation flare. He hungered for that power more than anything, and Orion's words stained what should have been his triumphant moment. His fists curled tighter, and his voice rumbled through the hall: "Orion! What in Primus' name do you think you're doing?!"
Even Dreadnought's spark quivered at Orion's truth. His hand trembled despite the relic's might. For the first time in aeons, he hesitated. No retort came to dispel the weight of that revelation.
A hush fell over all Cybertron. Every soul, wherever they stood, remained frozen, riveted to the broadcast, absorbing each word.
Dreadnought lifted his gaze, searching the faces of the council elders for support—but found only the same unrest that churned within him. They too had been struck by the power of that unsettling truth.
"Orion! Do you know what you're doing?!" Megatron roared, fury blazing in his optics as he confronted his brother, aghast at Orion's defiance in what should have been his moment of triumph.
"D, no offense, but from what has been revealed, and as you yourself admitted, you are not yet ready to lead Cybertron. The path you've chosen is not the right one." Orion replied calmly, meeting Megatron's rage with steady resolve.
"And you believe yourself worthy to claim the power of the Matrix of Leadership?!" Megatron bellowed, his anger rising even higher.
Orion lifted his chin, unflinching. "I have already said it, brother: true power must be deserved. That is a lesson I learned long ago. If we are to save our world, we must walk a different road entirely. I cannot endorse a vision of peace born from violence. You, more than anyone, should remember what you endured in those arenas because of it."
Fury ignited Megatron's optics, but he held back from raising his hand against Orion."Orion, get out of my way! The destiny of Cybertron's leader belongs to me! You know only I can unite this world!"
Orion took a steadying breath, stepping forward with equal resolve. "Brother, we can still stand together. All of Cybertron is watching this moment. We can unite our people now, bring every spark to forge a shared future."
Megatron's lips curled in contemptuous laughter. "You are weak, brother. The world does not belong to the weak, it belongs to the strong. If you are so naïve as to believe you can save our planet with your rosy-eyed dreams of peace, then you do not deserve even the title of my brother. You are nothing more than a simple archivist and forever will be no more than an empty footnote in history!"
Orion sounded calm but slightly shaken by Megatron's words. "But as long as my spark burns and energon courses through my veins, I will never abandon Cybertron, brother. I cannot stand by and let violence be unleashed in the name of your fury."
Upon hearing those words, Dreadnought found himself seized by a thought he had not entertained in countless millennia. It was an idea he never would have dared imagine, even in the aftermath of the Age of the Primes.
"For the first time in my existence… I believe someone truly deserves to become a Prime."