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“I heard he’s really nice,” Bumblebee hopped up on the chair between Mirage and Hound and squirmed around to get comfortable. Some things in the Ops wing were sized for his comfort, but the rest of the Iacon base hadn’t been designed or furnished with minibots in mind. “Like the total opposite of Sentinel, nice.”
“I have heard the same,” Mirage replied, “But I have always found it wise to remain wary, until I know a mechanism personally.”
“Not a bad idea,” Hound said, “But even Commander Magnus was saying it, so I’m going to be cautiously optimistic.”
“Shh!” Quirk reached up and shoved Hound in the shoulder from the row behind them. “It’s starting!”
The stage lights flashed to draw the attention of the mechanisms in the audience and then a large red and blue mech stepped up behind the podium situated at the front edge. He had warm blue optics above a face mask that was so obviously new that it gleamed in the light. The red and blue mech looked out over the gathered Autobot army and sighed softly. Then he began to speak. “Hello, I am Optimus Prime. My friends, I never wanted this day to come. Sentinel Prime was a capable leader, a strong warrior and someone that I know many of you looked up to. I cannot be who he was, but I will do my best to become a leader and warrior that you can all work with.”
“What will you do about the Decepticons?!” Bumblebee didn’t know the voice, but he wasn’t surprised to hear the outburst. A lot of Autobots had been asking that question in the wake of Sentinel Prime’s death.
“Before continuing this war, I will reach out to Megatron with the hand of peace. Many of his grievances were with the old regime, and I plan to lead Cybertron and the Autobots with more compassion and more of an effort to compromise. If that fails, then we will continue to fight for the safety and freedom of all Cybertronians.”
“What about the resources we’re running out of?” That voice he did recognize, and Bee silently approved of the engineer’s question when Wheeljack asked from the crowd. He had also been worrying about the drop off in available raw energon and the lack of solar energy available to convert into usable fuel.
“We will begin exploring alternate fuel sources immediately. We will also begin implementing older technology that already exists, in order to harvest stellar winds and other off-planet resources. These will not solve all our problems, but they will be the beginning of a solution.”
“And what about frame restrictions?” Mirage’s question startled Bumblebee, and he looked up at his friend with surprise. “Sentinel Prime reveled in segregating mechs based on appearance and presumed capability.”
“I have never believed in frame restrictions,” Optimus replied, voice firm. “No mech will be judged, kept from promotion or otherwise segregated because of the frame they were sparked into. All mechs are equal and will be treated as such.”
“Good.” Mirage reached down and put an arm around Bumblebee’s shoulders. Bee felt the optimism he’d been nurturing before bloom into real hope.
“I understand that you all have more questions,” Ultra Magnus stepped up to the podium next to the Prime, “But Optimus’ time is precious at this moment and he cannot answer them all. If you will let him finish his speech, he will meet with individual departments throughout the week.”
There were some mutters at Ultra Magnus’ interruption, but no one else asked any more questions.
“Thank you, my friends.” Optimus’ optics crinkled at the corners like he was smiling, and Bee was struck by the realization that he had never seen Sentinel smile.
This was already shaping up to be the best possible change.