Alrighty...there's alot of great stuff in here: interesting story, well-writtne prose, great dialogue - the discussion between Grimlock and Prime being the best, in my opinion. However, there's some stuff I don't like also... Firstly, the tone of this story. The narrative voice seems off...definitely not Optimus Prime. Actually, the sarcastic, world-weary, almost insultive nature of it is more akin to Rodimus Prime than it is Optimus. At the most, it's maybe comic book Optimus Prime. (Which it then can't be since this is cartoon universe.) I don't doubt that Optimus has the mean thought here and there, but this just isn't him. We all interpret characters differently, but this is just...beyond what I saw in the canon. Next...legislative body hands Matrix over to Rodimus? What?! In wartime, the Prime IS the legislative body. There's no proof of another one until Beast Wars, and it would be a ridiculous occurrence that soon after the end of a war. Even then, why would anyone force Optimus Prime - legendary hero, well-experienced warrior, and all around good leader - to hand it back to a neophyte leader? Not with the level of compassion and adoration even the newer Transformer characters showed for him. C'mon, Hot Rod was a brand new kid on the scene, and despite his lack of real interaction with Optimus, he was still willing to risk his life in a battle against Megatron to save him. Now, ignoring the outcome of that battle, I think that reflects a rather powerful sentiment among most Autobots about their respect and love for Optimus Prime. Not to mention that most of these guys aren't THAT young. Yeah, Arcee, Blurr, and Hot Rod were definitely young ones, but Springer, Ultra Magnus, and most of the rest of the cast gave an impression of being older and having at least some experience with Optimus Prime. (Magnus, in fact, being an old friend.) If that episode from Five Faces of Darkness is true, there's even more than we think. If there's anyone who would be feeling the loss of a position at that point, it would be Rodimus, not Optimus. Now, I applaud you for not writing another "Hot Rod angsts over losing leadership" story, but I'm afraid the way you have it set up seems really...contrived. Also, Prime leaving Cybertron after losing the Matrix seems pretty OOC to me. Think about it - if you had finally regained ground on a planet you fought for 5 million + years for (ignoring the four million in stasis), which had also just been destroyed and everyone was trying to rebuild it, and there was a young leader still settling into his position, wouldn't you stick around just to stay on the sidelines and make sure everything's all right? It wouldn't be just to piss off the politicians - it would be to make sure the people you cared about were doing all right. Lastly...oi, resurrection. How I loathe it. It was bad enough Optimus Prime kicked the can and then returned, but now you've got to magically restore Prowl? I'll let it go for now to see where it leads, but I'm still uneasy about it. Otherwise, it's a pretty decent story. It's obvious you did put a great deal of thought into it's execution, and for that I commend your effort. However...there are still a few chinks to work out. -Pitten