It's a new age for Cybertronians. With Galvatron defeated, the Decepticons have been disbanded. Those who wanted to keep their Decepticon badge were banished from Cybertron, a cruel but necessary act. Those who agreed to give up their badge were given immunity from all past crimes. The same course of action was taken with the Autobots, though most of them agreed to give up their badge where only a handful of Decepticons gave up theirs. Of course, not everyone was pleased with this decision. In fact, many cybertronians still remained unconvinced that the Decepticons were not planning something bigger, especially with Soundwave in such a high position of power in their government. Optimus, however, denied all allegations against Soundwave, declaring him 'a respectable Cybertronian who deserves to be on this planet just as much as the next bot.' Soundwave had pushed for Kaon to be rebuilt and as a result of his success and determination, he was placed on the council. After this decision was made by Acentia, Optimus, and Ultra Magnus, a couple council members elected to leave as they did not want to work with such a high ranking ex-decepticon like Soundwave. So, with the addition of a few new members, the Council now consisted of eight: Optimus, Acentia, Ultra Magnus, Alpha Trion, Soundwave, Perceptor, Jazz, and Drift. Today was Soundwave's first day on the job and he was late.
"Primus, that man needs to check his internal clock." Mocked Jazz. "Why is he late anyway?"
"He told me he might be late today. He had an appointment with Ratchet and he wasn't sure how long it would take." Acentia said casually.
"How is old Ratchet these days? I haven't spoken to him in quite some time." Drift inquired.
"Ratchet is quite angry with himself." Said Acentia.
"Is that because of Soundwave?" Drift asked. Acentia nodded.
"Yes, it deeply disturbs him because, in theory, Soundwave should be perfectly functional."
"Ratchet just needs time. I however, fear that the damage is permanent." Said Optimus. At that moment, Soundwave rolled in.
"Sorry i'm late. Ratchet wouldn't let me go."
"You are excused, Soundwave." Said Optimus with a nod of his head. Soundwave made his way to his seat. When he got to it, he looked at the chair and laughed nervously.
"It seems I haven't quite mastered moving around.." Acentia and Drift smiled sympathetically and got up to help him into his seat. They picked him up out of his wheelchair, legs hanging limply off his torso, and they gently set him down. As the two returned to their chairs, Soundwave shifted in his seat in an effort to make himself more comfortable.
"Perhaps Soundwave, we will make accommodations for you." Said Ultra Magnus.
"Oh, that won't be necessary." Soundwave protested.
"Of course." Ultra Magnus said with a nod is his head. Acentia looked around, seeing that everyone was done talking.
"Okay, so, we need to go over all of the housing applications. I sent you all the applications for the districts you agreed to be in charge of and you can find them on your data pads." Acentia said. "We have a lot of them so this will take a while but a lot of Cybertronians are returning and many of them sent these in and want them reviewed and approved before they arrive." Acentia said energetically.
"Are Bumblebee, Ironhide, and Hound gonna be returning to Cybertron?" Jazz asked. Acentia turned her attention to Optimus.
"They are still needed on Earth, though I have been told they are almost ready to come home." Said Optimus.
"Damn, I miss those guys." Jazz said as he turned his attention to the housing applications he had to review. Silence hung in the room as everyone went to work.
"Is Bumblebee going to be a part of the council Optimus? I remember him being very good with diplomatic situations and we could benefit from his experience on Earth." Said Acentia .
"That will be for Bumblebee to decide." Optimus said while he checked off another application. He paused. "Though i do believe that he would like to be a part of the council again."
"Again?" Acentia asked, shocked. Optimus nodded.
"He was part of the council a few years before we left for Earth. In fact, he was the one who suggested that we go there. He found some weak Decepticon signals and thought it would be worth the trip to investigate."
"Good instincts." Acentia noted and approve another application.
"Indeed." There was silence as everyone went through their applications.
"Rodimus?!" Drift blurted angrily. Optimus looked up from his data pad. "I thought he died during the war?! When I stopped hearing from him, I assumed…." Drift surged out of his chair. "Oh does he have a storm coming if he thinks he can just waltz in here like.." Drift was furious. Acentia and Optimus were chuckling."Hey! You two!" Drift yelled and pointed at Optimus and Acentia. "No comments from the peanut gallery!"
"Haha! Sorry Drift. Optimus and I placed a bet on what your reaction would be when you saw that." Drift scoffed. Optimus handed over a bag to Acentia, presumably full of coins but Drift wasn't sure.
"He's not even in my fragging district! He's... Wait... Soundwave?" Soundwave looked up from his data pad at Drift. "He's moving to Kaon?" Drift said with a dumbfounded expression and slumped into his chair.
"Really?!" Soundwave said. Drift sent the application to Soundwave, who made a face of genuine surprise once he glanced through the file. "That's... That is really something else."
"Yes, Rodimus thought having him there might help keep things... civil. Kaon is known to be a sketchy part of Cybertron and prejudice will remain for many years. We need someone the public trusts on the inside. While we don't think Kaon will cause much trouble, the public eye is not so open-minded... Though I must say, having all of the ex-decepticons helping out to rebuild and re-engineer Cybertron has definitely helped their image." Acentia said. Soundwave nodded.
"Yes, I told them all that if they wanted to be a part of this planet they had to help bring Cybertron into working order. They have, so far, exceeded my expectations." Soundwave said.
"That doesn't explain why Rodimus disappeared!" protested Drift.
"We don't know what happened to Rodimus that made him disappear. We just know that he's returning. He contacted Optimus and he looked a bit... worse for wear." said Acentia.
"What, like he's been fighting?" asked Drift, concerned.
"That's what it looked like to me." Drift pondered over this.
"There is no point in pondering over what he's been up to, you'll never know. He will be here in a few weeks, you can ask him then." Said Ultra Magnus, who was looking over an application with a steely focus. With the knowledge that Rodimus was returning to Cybertron, and the fact that he appeared to have been doing a lot of fighting, Ultra Magnus was concerned about what trouble he might bring back with him.