#I also think I could make a whole damn seperate post about provocation from the Council like...

[mocacheezy]

So I am reading Exodus right? And it took me ages to get over the 12th chapter since I dreaded the Council Shitshow and assumed it will blow up then and there. Welp, I was wrong.

So now I finished the 13th chapter and oh my fucking shit Orion, honey. Honey no, you fucked up spectacularly. You set yourself up for such a damn fuckery between you and Megatron and you don't even realize it.

Megatron is in no way reasonable or not responsible for the excalation of said fuckery, but I can absolutely see how his (very extreme) reaction makes sense given the chain of events following what Orion does here.

So I shall screech about it. Do note that I am also Mega-biased. Book spoilers below.

Summary of the post: Orion Pax, albeit unintentionally, completely overshadowed Megatron, named the cause for Megatron with disregard for the name he claimed just minutes prior, and also displayed the difference between higher and lower castes as blatantly as it gets (one patient and reasonable, the other angry), finishing his speech by letting the Council know they must make their choice between peace or destruction today as they pick the new Prime.

Yet he still wonders why Megatron is angry as the stands chant "Autobots!" after his speech.

So we start with the set up; Megatron is once again pointing out that Orion's priviledge and connection are the only reason why they have the chance to speak with the Council, and Orion points out that airing grievances will get him nowhere. He also suggests Megatron stops pretending and presents himself as a legitemate leader of a movement, since, quote: "If they think you're just a gladiator they'll cut you off in a nanoklik and you'll never get a second chance."

Pax has good points, Megatron acknowledges this and before they part, Orion has one last advice:

(...) "Don't make too much of an entrance. One thing you have to know about the Council is that they hate to be upstaged."

Megatron is Megatron, but his start was calm compared to his usualy speeches. He stated the facts, told how him and those like him live - how they were all nameless and how some only learned their own worth through death and killing in the arena - and, before the questions from the Council start, he does express gratitude;

"(...) My friend Orion Pax, I thank you for helping our cause gain this platform; and to the High Council, I express my thanks for your time and attention.

All in all, it was quite impressive seeing the contrast from his speech in the arena and here.

And then the provocative questions from the Counil members start, and the word Decepticon is dropped in relation to the terrorist attacks;

After his exit, Sigil, the Representative of the Guilds - who "(...) administered the castes and excersized absolute control over which newly born Cybertronians were routed into which castes." - speaks of how well the Guilds work and then says this;

"Decepticon?" echoed Megatron. "An interesting name."

"You would think so," Drivetrain pressed him. "Since it was you who coined it, was it not?"

Megatron drew himself up to his whole height. (...) "I would say that you should implicate neither me nor my friend Orion Pax until you have facts. What other bots might have said means nothing to me. But if the term Decepticon is to be laid at my feet I accept it!" he said. "Sometimes deception is necessary, when those who should listen to the truth will not, and will only understand once they've been lied to and forced to see their own lies."

After this there is uproar, and with what those that call themself Decepticons did, Megatron didn't make the situation any easier. His exit from the stand is in no way calm either. But that's who he is, so no surprise that his temper took the wheel after repetative provocations and thinly veiled insults from the Council.

Oof. Yeah, hmmm, Megatron and others are probably used to that slag, but I am still surprised noone got shot or restrained. Good job to everyone in the stands that support the cause.

(...) "Can one criminal... one gladiator with the deaths of how many innocents on his conscience... Can this killer be suffered to undermine what Primus himself has decreed when he created this planet and seeded all Cybertronians on it throughout the Well of the Allsparks?"

So this was Megatron's defense, and now comes Orion, with an opening that had me slack jawed.

He channeled that displeasure & anger well, begining with the most polite way of saying "Fuck you Sigil" and I live for it.

"I say first that Sigil makes no friends among unhappy Cybertronians because he is as pompous as any spark has ever been," Orion Pax said.

And then begins his defense and he speaks out for Megatron and his actions, backing him up and explaining his anger;

So he began simply. "Fellow Cybertronians, members of the Council, hear me. Megatron speaks harshly but true. He has seen the truth of life for many Cybertronians whose lives are all too often invisible, and if he is angry, it is anger born of love for an ideal and a Spark-deep pain at our failure of that ideal. (...)

And during his speech he coins the name Autobots, and speaks of what kind of a Prime Cybertron needs;

"I will say it again. Autonomous robots!

"(...) We are all autonomous robots today -Autobots, if we need a name to rally around- and we Autobots declare that a Spark once freed will never again stand to be oppressed.

"You must chose a new Prime today. Choose well, for a Prime might either lead Cybertron to a new golden era in our history, or stand by as the dark energies of anger and resentment explode into planet wide chaos and war.

"Members of the Council, the choice is yours. I wish you wisdom."

His parting words aimed at the stands end up in the crowd chanting:

(...) ; Orion Pax raised both arms, fists clenched, and thundered, "For Cybertron! Autobots!"

Over the pounding of Halogen's gavel, the crows erupted. AUTOBOTS!

"For freedom! Autobots!"

AUTOBOTS!

It started up high in the gallery, beyond where Megatron's oldest and most loyal followers were clustered. AUTOBOTS! And from there it spread. AUTOBOTS! AUTOBOTS! AUTOBOTS!

This time it took nearly a full cycle before Halogen and the other Councilors could gavel the gallery back to silence. And Orion Pax noticed something odd.

Something odd?

When he caught Megatron's eye he was expecting approbation. Instead he saw anger on his friend's face, and did not know why. Surely, brother, he thought, it is more important to accomplish our goal than it is for us to agree on every mote of our method?

He did not know if that was what had angered Megatron, but Orion Pax knew his friend, and he knew they would have words. If not during the course of the High Council hearing, then after. Megatron clearly had something on his mind, and he was not a Cybertronian who kept his emotions to himself.

Atleast not for long.

The Council is against change, the terrorist attacks and violence don't win their cause any favours. After his speech, Megatron is accused of being behind the attacks, and eventually he simply accepts the name Decepticons, since everyone seems so keen to associate it with him.*

Since he can't seem to figure it out, and Megatron hasn't spoken his mind yet, let's list what just happened:

The exchange between the Council and Megatron is in no way peaceful. Lots of aggression on both sides, with Megatron's being more explosive. He makes it clear his cause will be a threat if the Council doesn't listen.

Orion's entrance is a big contrast to how Megatron entered. And despite being laughted at in the begining, he delivers a heartfelt speech that soothes over the aggitation brought on by Megatron, while also backing up his anger and explaininh the reason for it. He coins the name for the cause right then and there - autonomous robots; Autobots. And he points out that the Council can choose a Prime that will lead them to a better future, or do nothing when the anger of the people explodes and causes destruction.

*Megatron is behind some (if not all) of those attacks, but there is no proof to fully back this claim 100% unless he himself admits to it. The Council probably counted on him admiting his association and they partially succeeded.

The above? Megatron setting himself up for failure in a civil enviorment, but he himself also doesn't believe in change through peace. Orion has no hand in this belief, since he also actively works on reminding Megatron that peace is an option and something to strive for.

During his speech, Orion Pax:

Completely disintergrated the atmosphere that Megatron created - the kind that works in the Arena and has given results in the past.

He named their cause on the spot, after Megatron, the one that started it in the first place, claimed the name Decepticons to himself, and by that to his movement.

He stated that they must choose a new Prime today and laid out two very different pictures of a what choices they have. Peaceful or destructive.

Orion Pax, albeit unintentionally, completely overshadowed Megatron, named the cause for Megatron with disregard for the name he claimed just minutes prior, and also displayed the difference between higher and lower castes as blatantly as it gets (one patient and reasonable, the other angry), finishing his speech by letting the Council know they must make their choice between peace or destruction today, as they pick the new Prime.

He suceeded in making the stands chant the name he picked for the cause, which would of course make him the leader in the eyes of those who hear the word Autobots. The name is connected to his speech.

He upstaged both the Council and Megatron with his exit.

Now Megatron has an ego to match his temper and passion, and he is already agitated due to the Council getting under his plating. And now, his friend from a higher caste undid all he said, and is in the spotlight, with the crowd chanting for him, much louder and longer than they did for him.

He wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for Orion, so there's bitterness for that.

He is from a lower caste and at a disadvantage from the start because of that.

He had to remain calm for as long as possible given the disadvantages he has, while also having his patience stretched paper thin.

He killed in the arena, his followers killed outside the arena and this got everone's attention when words did not.

Orion just had to speak and was heard. And his speech got the stands chanting, and approval from a crowd shows which way the scales will most likely tip. (Not to mention the chanting did not start from the ground up, but spread from the top downwards. That is also quite a contrast compared to where Megatron's speeches started and spread.)

His actions make it look like betrayal, and with how Megatron is, with how angry he already is, I don't think he'll try to be reasonable and try to look at that speech from a different angle, given that this is High Caste enviorment, and Orion is closer to them.

I am not writing about the 14th chapter here because I have yet to read it, don't have image space, but I also know it will be an even bigger "oh no" that will need it's own post (or might just be reblogged here, who knows).

Again, Orion did this unintentionally, but he also made a very different entrance AND exit than Megatron did, despite himself saying that the Council hates to be upstaged. He really, really set himself up for the chain reaction to follow, simply because he was himself, fully himself, and spoke from heart.

This part of the story is really making me wonder if Optimus ever reflects on this moment when he's alone. Hindsight must've hit him like a train.