#Blitzwing's gone through a lot guys

[driftsart]

More than meets the eye

Tiny reminder: I DO NOT ship Blitzbee! Therefore this is NOT Blitzbee art! Blitzwing is like a mentor to bee. :)

[emeraldtart]

The Masked Decepticon

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Chapter 10: Of Two Sparks

"So... You're sayin' that you found this guy in the Arctic?" said Fanzone as he eyed the white shuttle. Skyfire visibly tensed, his large wings pulling close to each other as he stand in the park.

"Uhh... Yeah. He's the one who help stop the weather machine, Officer Fanzone," Optimus explained. The rest of Detroit doesn't know about the whole leader of Decepticons thing going on, and Optimus prefer to keep it that way.

Fanzone rubs the bridge of his nose and sighs, "Fine. Just, make sure he doesn't wreck anything. Having just one big guy is hard enough,"

As Optimus, Skyfire and the rest of Team Prime watches Fanzone drove away, the shuttle looks at the Prime, "So... What do I do now?"

"Well... I guess we help clean the snow," say Optimus. All around them was piles of snow as big as Bulkhead. It hasn't properly melted, so the bots are tasked with cleaning the roads for the time being.

"Alright. Say, can't we ask Star for help-"

Sari quickly hushed the shuttle, "Listen, he can't help. He's supposed to be our enemy,"

Skyfire frowned at the answer, "... I see,"

The shuttle simply turned to push some snow away from the roads, and the rest of the Autobots could only watch the shuttle doing his work in silence.

Ever since Skyfire was freed from the ice, Optimus and his team along with Starscream, Blitzwing and Lugnut told Skyfire what he had missed the last 2 billion years. And unfortunately, it also includes the war. Ever since then, Skyfire was distraught to find out what Starscream had done and gone through.

"I wish we can help him somehow. He looks so sad," say Sari.

"We need to find Megatron. If we can reason with him, then maybe we can try to make a truce between the Autobots and the Decepticons," Optimus explained.

"That is, if he's willing to reason. As much as I know, he is very stubborn," Ratchet grumbled.

"I know... But, I can't help but think that isn't all,"

Bumblebee looks at Optimus and glanced to Ratchet as he pushed some snow away using a makeshift shovel Bulkhead made, "Say, what actually happened to Optimus yesterday? He began talking weird things, like Megatron being a miner and somebot named Megatronus and all that stuff,"

"It was a long time ago. You see, the Council is the real authority in Cybertron, so they control everything, including the history of Cybertron. Megatron was a miner before, and Megatronus was his designation before the Decepticons became violent,"

"Why did the Decepticons became... Bad?" Sari asked.

"A very important mech was killed. As a result, the Decepticons waged war againsts the Autobots. Because of that, it was easy to paint them as the villains of the story,"

"Was that guy this Orion Pax guy?" she then whispered, "I mean, I heard Star talking about him often,"

"Yeah. But I don't know much about him. I've only known him from some of my friends from back then. Apparently, he's an archivist who is also the Autobot textbook example of good. But I'm afraid that's all I knew,"

"Huh, that's odd," say Bulkhead.

Ratchet paused and lower down his shovel, "How so?"

"The academy said that Orion Pax was an archivist who was killed in a Decepticon attack. They said Megatron offlined him,"

"Yeah. They said he was against the Decepticon movement and was offlined," Bumblebee added.

"Like I said, the Council changes even the history of Cybertron if they see the need to. A lot of things had changed from the real events, so no bot even knows who Orion Pax really is," Ratchet looks at Optimus, who is teaching Skyfire how to use a shovel, "It's sad that someone like him is forgotten in such a way,"

Xxx

In an unknown place, Isaac Sumdac is working on reverse engineering the warp gate. He had purposely slowing down his own progress, saying that it was difficult even for a man of science such as him, when in reality he was buying time in hopes the Autobots would find him in time.

He noticed that Megatron had left what looks to be a giant photograph near his cell. The warlord had retired to his berth room for the day, so Sumdac took the chance to have a proper look at it.

The scientist could see what looks to be a young Megatron with eight other Decepticons, according to the insignia they wore. What caught Sumdac's attention was a red and blue Decepticon. His face was covered by a mask. He was wrapping his arm around Megatron's shoulder, seemingly to smile. The warlord was also smiling in the picture.

Sumdac rubbed his eyes and looks at the red and blue robot near Megatron. He looks a lot like Optimus. But then, it might be just a simple coincidence. Maybe their paint colour is like clothes, and the mech just happened to have the same colour as Optimus.

Sumdac decided to clean his tools, knowing that his questions will not be answered. As he did, he began to worry about Sari. He hoped with all his heart that his daughter is alright.

Xxx

Nighttime fell on Detroit. Skyfire walked around the empty streets, careful not to crush anything with his pedes. He still can't get his processor off the fact that a war had occurred while he was in stasis lock, that he had left Ulchtar all by himself, and that his sparkmate had offlined many sparks. And that barely even scratching the surface of what had happened.

The shuttle ended up in an empty parking lot. He sat down and puts his face in his servos. This is too much to take in.

A pair of purple optics watched the shuttle carefully. He stepped out from his hiding spot and towards Skyfire, "Well, what do we have here?"

"Wha- who are you?"

"Calm down, I'm just a mech from Cybertron like you,"

"Oh,"

The mech held out a servo, "The designation is Swindle, nice to meet you,"

"I'm Skyfire,"

"So, what seems to be bothering you, big guy?"

"Nothing... It just... My sparkmate... I've just found out he's on a different faction and our sides are fighting,"

"Oh, so your spark mate's a Decepticon? Tell me, who is it?"

"His name is Ulchtar,"

Swindle rubs his chin as he muttered, "Hmm... Ulchtar, Ulchtar... Nope, never heard of him. Is that a Vosian designation?"

"Yeah. Although, I've heard from Optimus that he was called Starscream now,"

If Swindle was drinking oil, he would immediately spat it out. He shook his helm and looks at Skyfire with wide optics, "Wait, that Starscream!? As in, the second-in-command and the Decepticon's Air Commander!? That Starscream!!?"

"Yeah,"

"And... You've just know,"

"I was trapped in ice for 2 billion years, I've just got out two cycles ago,"

Swindle took a moment to process. Starscream had a Conjunx is probably the most shocking thing Swindle had heard in his entire lifetime. And he had lived for a very long time.

Then, an idea struck to him. A business idea.

The bot smiled and looks at Skyfire, "You know, you wanna hang out at my place? I got some Energon fit for flight frames,"

"It's alright. I have to go home now,"

Not wanting to let go of an opportunity to make big cash, Swindle shoots the shuttle with an electric shock. Skyfire screams in pain as he fell to his knees, he looks at Swindle who shoots again. The shuttle fell unconscious, and Swindle smiled, "No hard feelings, but business is business,"

Xxx

Starscream looks outside from his hideout in the mines. Something is wrong.

Xxx

The sun haven't rise the next morning, but Optimus could hear the sounds of Starscream's turbines outside. Due to their frequent visits, he had memorized the sounds of the Decepticon's engines.

He opened the garage doors and saw Starscream standing anxiously, "Starscream? What are you doing here, its still so early in the morning?"

"Is Skyfire here?"

"... No. Actually, he hadn't returned home last night,"

"I'm going to search for him. Can you help?"

"Sure," Optimus switches into his Decepticon form and transforms, "Let's go,"

Xxx

Skyfire groaned as he woke up. He recalled the events of last night, and his optics snapped wide open. He was locked in an energy cage, and saw Swindle in front of him, "You!"

"Yes, me,"

"What are you doing!? Let me go!"

"Calm down. I'm using you as bait. I'll let you go once I get what I want,"

"What do you mean bait?"

"Isn't it obvious? Lord Megatron wants his second-in-command back,"

If Skyfire had skin, it would have turned paper white. He can't let Megatron get his servos on Ulchtar. Who knows what he'll do to him.

'Ulchtar... Please, don't come...!' Skyfire desperately hoped.

Xxx

"I've searched the whole city, he's nowhere to be found!" Starscream yelled through the comm. Convoy winced at the volume, "Calm down. I think I got a lead. There's huge ped marks at the parking lot, and I'm following the tire tracks. I'll tell you the location when I get there,"

Convoy follows the tracks which lead into a more secluded location in Detroit. He sneaks into a warehouse and saw Swindle, 'I should've known...' he thought.

As he was about to enter, he heard the sound of a helicopter's blades spinning. Convoy looks around for a way to hide and pulls over a ragged cloth as he transforms into his alt mode. He turned on his audials to the max, listening.

Swindle looks the as the grey helicopter transforms into the Decepticon warlord himself, Megatron.

"Finally, you're here,"

Megatron glared at Swindle and looks at Skyfire in the cell, "You promised me Starscream. Not an Autobot shuttle,"

"Relax, boss. He's just bait. I'm sure the Seeker will come and save his sparkmate,"

"... I see,"

"Slag...! Starscream, don't come, it's a trap!" Convoy yells into the comm. Unfortunately, he briefly forgot that Megatron and Swindle were still there, "Who's there!? Show yourself!"

Convoy mentally covers his mouth as he realised he had yelled it out loud.

Megatron steps out of the warehouse, and shoots at a stack of crates, threatening the eavesdropper to come out, "Come on out and fight me head on,"

"Very well then," Convoy throws off the cloth and unsheaths his sword, "I will fight you, just as you ask,"

As Megatron turns to look at his opponent, his optics widened. Standing in front of him was a mech with sleek black paint job. Navy blue lines and red metal decorates his chassis giving some colour from the monochromatic pallete he had. Despite the mech's face was covered by a battle mask, his red optics are glaring straight into his spark.

It was just a split second, but the way the cape was thrown off and the way his opponent held his blade, Megatronus swore he saw Orion standing in front of him.

He was snapped from his thoughts when the mech lunged forward, their blades clashing against each other. Up close, Megatron could see the Decepticon insignia painted on the mech's left shoulder, "You're a Decepticon...!

Xxx

Starscream peered down from the building he landed on. He could see Convoy fighting Megatron, and a scan on the warehouse resulted in Skyfire and Swindle's spark being in there. The Seeker flew behind the warehouse, careful not to make much noise, which was surprisingly easy due to the clashing of swords outside.

As Starscream was about to open the back door, it skids open and he saw Skyfire in a cell with Swindle behind trying to escape.

"Uh... Hi?"

Starscream wordlessly aimed his nullray at the conmech.

Xxx

"So, tell me your designation,"

Convoy stared at Megatron before answering, "Why should I?"

"Manners, of course,"

"You're the one who should introduce yourself to me,"

Megatron grits his dentae, "Do not take me lightly. You do realise I am the leader of the Decepticon itself, do you?"

Convoy closes his optic and puts a hand under his chin. He tilted his helm in mock curiosity, "Really? Last time I checked, whoever defeats the previous leader became the new leader. You got defeated by a small Autobot," he opened an optic and looks at Megatron, "And I defeated him. Which makes me the leader, right?"

The warlord stood in silence before chuckling, "You think you can fool me so easily? Where are your proof?

"My second-in-command is all the proof you need," he glanced to the warehouse, where Starscream stepped out, Skyfire following behind.

"It's true. He is the leader. If you don't believe me, ask Strika and Lugnut about it,"

Megatron's face turned into one of pure shock, "How!? How did you get Starscream of all mech on your side?"

"He asked for help searching for his missing Conjunx, and I helped. Now if you'll let us. I want to go back to base and recharge. I stayed up till late night," said Convoy.

He stopped and turned to Megatron, "Oh, and my designation is Dark Convoy. Don't forget that, Lord Megatron,"

With that, he transforms into his altmode and drove off. Starscream and Skyfire also took off, leaving Megatron alone.

Swindle, who was watching everything from the back was confused. The Decepticons have a new leader?

Xxx

"Where the scrap did you go? I was about to make a search party just now!" Ratchet lectured Optimus. The Prime just smiled awkwardly, "Starscream came this morning and said Sky was kidnapped. So I was helping him search. Turns out Swindle kidnapped him to use as bait to catch Starscream for Megatron,"

"I see. Still, I'm glad you didn't meet Megatron in your Decepticon alter ego, right?"

Optimus, Starscream and Skyfire looks at each other awkwardly.

"Are you kidding me!!?"

Xxx

Back at Megatron's hideout, he was sitting in his throne, staring into space. Dark Convoy. He's a curious mech indeed. He'll need to observe this mysterious new leader more.

[firebunnylover]

Has it occurred to others how big of a threat TFA Megatron and TFP Starscream as a working duo would be?

Think about it.

TFP Starscream is - to me at least - a lot more capable than his TFA counterpart. When TFP Megs was gone for three years, he continued leading the cons without a hitch COMPLETELY UNDETECTED. And he was responsible for the death of Cliff Jumper, aka one of the only Autobot deaths we get on TFP.

And later on, he is pretty much the one who ended Megatron’s little fantasy of him having Orion back for good and helped the Autobots get Optimus back, with the benefit of medical care. And don’t forget how he stole the Omega Lock keys from the Autobots later on, when he’s grounded but got his hands on Red Energon and puts it to good use.

And he’s grossly undervalued by Megatron. Who seems to have made a habit of hitting his subordinates.

TFA Megatron however is someone who seems to treat his subordinates very well (well s1-s3 at least). Hell, he treated the Constructicons to a fancy gourmet oil he made to get them to work for him because he knew they had valuable skills.

Yes, he’s still shady as hell while doing it but hey, given that he stopped Blitzwing from CANNIBALIZNG THEM, it really speaks a lot. Unless the negatives and cost outweigh the positives and benefits, Megatron will take the trouble to keep a valuable ally.

TFA Starscream probably barely strikes him as one, because the second he was gone, the Nemesis got blown up. When it was obvious Starscream wasn’t worth the trouble, he tried off-lining him as efficiently as possible. Something he was probably right as Starscream still made multiple attempts on his life even after he was caught.

Plus he’s smart enough to plan things ahead, is good at biding his time, doesn’t cycle through SICs, and DOESN’T consume the equivalent of crack.

TFP Starscream would undoubtedly be seen as someone worth keeping as second in command by TFA Megatron, but unlike TFP Megatron, he would probably try figuring out a way to keep Starscream from trying/considering backstabbing him that wouldn’t turn into something that could further motivate Starscream into trying.

... Not sure if you guys noticed, but TFA Megatron is SUGAR DADDY MATERIAL.

TFA Megatron would get TFP Starscream ALL THE FANCY HEEL UPGRADES and whatever his Spark desires. Can’t say he’d let Starscream lead the Decepticons, but he would give Starscream enough free range that along with all the gifts he would provide, it should be satisfactory enough NOT to warrent reason to overthrow him. I mean, no telling what happens when you lose your income of heels.

And Starscream would be VERY happy with the arraignment. And should Megatron ever up and vanish, he can effectively lead the Cons, still satisfying their purpose.

And considering this is a duo that can work together without either having to worry the other will try to get rid of the other?

The Autobots are going to have a problem.

But hey, those are my thoughts.

[little-shiny-sharpies]

2, 5 and 12 with blitzwing 👀 and 7 for mccree! (@robotlover)

@selfshippinglover

Ok I'm gonna make a separate post for Mccree later bc theres a lot and I'm just gonna do a few with him. Thank y'all for waiting on this!

1) what’s a Hot Take you have about your f/o?

Blitzwing would absolutely hesitate to love someone because he has self esteem issues and everyone always throws that out the window when writing him in a romantic scenario. Only when he's the character that's gotta be uwu depressed and romanticizing it is anyone noticing that. This bot has gone through a horror show and he would feel like a burden to whoever he has feelings for because he's just the crazy triple changer that no one respects or likes.

2) on what do you disagree with other fans of your f/o?

Ok this is a bit lemony for my blog but Blitzwing isn't a sex crazed power top and y'all need to get that through your minds, he's Ace or Demi. Yes I'm projecting but I'm still right bc giant alien robots canon don't have that "equipment" boo me all you want I'm still right.

3) did you used to ship your f/o with anyone before realizing you wanted to ship them with yourself? 

No actually! I have honestly never actually like.. shipped characters that weren't cannon. I've rarely liked romance in media. I have faint memories of shipping Fluttercord though..

4) do you feel like you have to defend your f/o all the time? 

I feel like most folks project so much onto him theres nothing left but on the other end there's folks who just made the stupidest things of how he's an uwu feral boi and I wanna yell underwater. There are a few things I agree with fanon about but those are very few things.

5) what’s the dumbest thing you’ve heard about your f/o, either on the internet or irl? 

The dumbest thing I've seen in canon and fannon is that he's an idiot. That just doesn't make sense?? He's shown to be a really smart guy in his first episodes even getting Ratchet into a chokehold forcing the autobots into a standstill until Megs calls him off. (Idiot move there boi)

6) what are some tropes that fan art of your f/o tends to follow? 

That his "personalities" have separate bodies and bicker with each other. Which.. doesn't really make sense. If anything he'd be happy to have someone who understands him.

7) did your f/o deserve better?

He got used in an experiment that caused him severe psychological trauma and we don't even know if he was a willing patient. He was a deadly opponent in the first season that got nerfed into a henchman buffoon and shit talked anytime someone brought him up. My man was treated as a trophy in his final scenes to further the political career of an authoritarian xenophobic jerkwad. My mans deserved so much better..

8) do you even like the source your f/o comes from or do you only watch it for them & nothing else?

Oh I absolutely love Transformers animated!! It has such a unique personality compared to other iterations and it has the smartest megatron. Its also the show that got me into transformers (other than the first bay movies which I like much less)

9) do you distance yourself from other fans of your f/o or their source?

In the beginning? No. I was completely fine with all the weird fannon interpretation and ships (and we'll fucking get to that) but I didn't think about it. Nowadays I stay away from anybody that draws blitzwing because if I go to their blog to see more, it turns out they've got 20 other posts tagged as bli***ee or interact with those who do or don't bother tagging ns//fw things

10) how did you feel when you realized “oh of course i had to like That Character”?

(Ok so I didn't really understand this one so I kinda gave 2 answers)

It was when I realized that he had the same emotional issues as me. Having BPD and living with folks with BPD is quite a rollercoaster but I saw so much of me in blitzwing I just wanted to be his friend at first and chill and then the emotions got so much deeper and now I've made fankids and we're happily married ksjdaksj.

But when I realized that he had the traits of the 3 main tumblr sexymen I had a "oh no, people are gonna be weird about him aren't they?.." moment but my heart was set anyway.

11) do you think it’s better to have a copious amount of content for your f/o, even with the risk of finding a lot of ship art, or better to have a lot less?

Oh god this is a tricky one because either 1 when the art isn't a ship and just him he's looking sad or bored or he's insane and never a nice wholesome happy or 2 its ship art. So uh ima say quality over quantity.

12) aren’t you tired of being nice? this is an excuse to rant.

LET'S FUCKING GOOOO!! Listen. LISTEN. I get loving Blitzwing. I fully get it. I also understand having a childhood crush on Bumblebee. Because I had that, as a *child*. Because Bumblebee behaved like a child. Because as a child. I enjoyed his antics. See where I'm going here? It's not that I don't like seeing Blitzwing shipped with other characters! Its really not! It squicks me a bit but it's totally ok! It's the fact that it's with a character who's supposed to be a little brother to the bots and the same age as Sari! Really any ship with Bumblebee or Sari feels very fucking *Yikes*. Not to mention the fact that it's always painted Blitzwing as someone to be fixed, someone who needs to change who they are to fit the wants of someone who showed them the slightest iota of kindness that he's so desperate for and that said person is an irresponsible child that could rival Blue from Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends, or it treats him like a beast that should be controlled by said child. It feels so ableist at best and pedophilia at worst and I'm so upset that more folks don't see it.

(Also want to add that the person who popularized the ship is known to draw porn of underage characters. Ya'll really love rose glasses to hide those red flags for the sake of "good" art huh?)

[shatteredglassanimated]

Shattered Glass Animated Season 1 Episode 3 - Transform and Rise Up!, Part 3

The Decepticons get to know their new allies a little more, but introductions are cut short when they discover they were not the only Cybertronians who crashed on earth and Overlord Sumdac is far from done with the Resistance...

“Failures! The whole lot of them!” Sumdac snarled, hauling his wrench at the wall next to the unfazed secretary-bot who had just reported to him. That was perhaps the only downside to having a non-human assistant, Sumdac thought. Machines might be more reliable, but they also lacked the satisfying utter fear in their eyes. They would not flinch, no matter how much his wrath flared up and that irked him. Everything he owned ought to fear him. Oh well. At least the robots were obedient. Not like that resistance-scum that had yet again managed to elude him. How they’d managed to somehow completely destroy that techno-organic abomination that some of his finest scientists had failed to contain or control was completely beside him. He’d been so sure that had them this time! So sure he had retreated to his laboratory for two days and had ordered the secretary-bot not to disturb him until his return. Clearly they’d had help. Perhaps even from the inside? Now here was something to consider. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. The high-tech weaponry, advanced enough to rival his toughest police-drones. The way his camera-bots seemed to mysteriously malfunction whenever a fight ensued between the resistance fighters and his own forces. Sumdac stroked his chin in thought. Yes, it seemed like the only logical conclusion. But who? It had to be someone high up, a human, obviously, intelligent enough to counter-engineer Sumdac-drones. Perhaps-

The comm on his desk sprang to life, interrupting his thought process. Sumdac growled and brought his fist down on the answer button, activating the small monitor. Seeing just who it was that had called him did nothing to improve his mood. A sturdy blond man with a much too eager look in his eye and a shiny badge pinned to his shirt. “What is it, Captain Fanzone?” Sumdac asked, in a tone that would have made a snow storm feel warm. “I am quite busy.” “Good morning, Overlord Sumdac,” Fanzone chattered giddily, either ignoring or not noticing his employers foul mood. “Me and the crew did a bit of clean-up in downtown, y’know, bringing back the drones that got shattered before the scavengers got to ‘em. We found a camera-bot and retrieved it’s footage - which is crispy clean, by the way. You couldn’t find a human making pictures like that in that situation! This is why I love machines-” “What did the footage show?” Sumdac interrupted, before Fanzone was able to descend into one of his unbearable gushing fits. He’d appreciated the man’s complete and utter loyalty and devotion to all things technological back when he’d hired him as his chief of police, but after soon thirty years of listening to his endless drivel, Sumdac wondered if perhaps he should have gone through with making his personal police force a hundred percent non-organic. At least robots had an off-switch. “Right, right! Well, I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t just seen it myself, to be honest I still don’t believe it. It’s amazin’, it’s groundbreakin’, it’s-” “Just send me the footage,” Sumdac groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. He felt a headache coming up. “Right away, sir!” A file popped up on his computer and Sumdac send the data over to the flat-screen facing his desk. As much as Fanzone liked to overstate, he had been right about the quality of the material the camera-bot had carried. The picture was sharp as could be. And what it showed raised Sumdac’s interest. Four gigantic robots, apparently able to transform into flying vehicles at will battled with his monster, each displaying a different set of skill and powers. The footage cut off when one of the beasts’ tentacles grabbed and crushed it in mid-air, but Sumdac had seen enough. He’d been right after all. The resistance had had help. Help from above. No wonder they had disabled his cameras. If he’d discovered their little secret earlier...although ‘little’ was perhaps not an apt descriptor for it. A sense of nostalgia overcame him as he thought back to that fateful evening fifty years ago. At that time he’d thought of his find as a once in a life-time occurrence. He wasn’t particularly angry to be proven wrong, though. Without knowing it, the resistance had possibly handed him just what he needed to sniff them out. He turned to switch on his computer, went through some files until he found what he was searching for, then contacted Fanzone again. “I am about to send you a probe of an energy signature. Do not attempt to find out what it belongs to, it is extremely rare and way over your head. You will feed it to a regiment of your police drones. And then you will dispatch them and let them search.” “So we’ve got a lead, sir?” Fanzone asked. Sumdac smirked. “Indeed we have. Tell the drones they have orders to take any robots they find and bring them to me, undamaged. And if they find any humans accompanying them, they are authorized to use lethal force.” ______________________________________________________________ A lean, great figure, raised it’s hand away from it’s head and left it’s hiding place outside the Terrordrome’s main tower to drop down onto and automated aircraft and onto the street. Transforming into a standard motorcycle and racing towards Downtown. ______________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, in an old abandoned factory on the outskirts of Detroit, the resistance in question were up to face another day. It had been a rather quiet two days since the incident and they’d gotten to know each other a little better. Currently, Amicable Archer had settled himself on Blitzwing’s shoulder and was rather enthusiastically explaining all the things that placed a bow above a regular plasma gun. The Decepticon listened and nodded politely after every second word or so, although he couldn’t for the spark of him understand what this conversation was actually about. But it was still fascinating to listen to a being that was so small and so vulnerable compared to him and his fellow ‘Cons, yet still threw himself into battle against opponents so much bigger and more lethal than himself to protect other humans. Lugnut and Cyrus were sitting side by side on an old assembly line, watching their respective partner and wishing desperately for them to break off and return. Neither of them knew how to talk to each other. Cyrus had mostly gotten over his discomfort after he realized the Decepticons were in no way associated with Sumdac, but they still unnerved him to a certain degree. So much so that he had forbidden Penny to interact with them until further notice. And although she had sulked quite a bit about his decision, she’d ultimately agreed to stay hidden in her room in their side of the factory, much to his relief. Lugnut felt much the same about the humans. He was by no means an organo-phobe, it was more that he’d never had the faintest idea what he was supposed to do with them. Most of the organic life he’d encountered in his life-cycle hadn’t really been intelligent enough to communicate in a way that he could understand and with how squishy and fragile organics were he’d always felt a mere touch with his giant metal claws was enough to make them wither away and/or break. True, this Cyrus looked a lot more put-together than his smaller companion, but still just as soft. The uncomfortable silence between them stretched out with every second, only highlighted by Archers’ and Blitzwing’s light-hearted chattering. Eventually, Cyrus gave an awkward cough and turned to Lugnut. “Umm, so. This ‘Cybertron’...is it...far away from earth?” “Very. Though without a proper star  map, I will be unable to tell you the exact distance.” “Ah. And, err...where did you guys say you came from again?” “New Kaon. It is the main capital of our colonies, a safe haven from the Autobots and their tyranny.” “Huh. Kinda like our factory’s a hideout from Overlord Sour-puss out there?” “...You could say that. Although New Kaon is much superior in size.” “I mean, if it’s supposed to host a whole bunch of you guys, I’d imagine it’d have to be.” Cyrus lifted one corner of his mouth in an uneasy smirk. Lugnut made a noise that could have been a laugh, but Cyrus couldn’t be entirely sure. The behemoths’ face wasn’t exactly what you’d call expressive. He came to the conclusion that, if Lugnut hadn’t been at least a bit amused by his comment, he’d have moved away by now and decided to leave it at that. The two of them continued to sit together in silence, though there was an air of comfort to it now. At the same time, Megatron and Blackarachnia were standing in the repair room. The techno-organic was checking the monitors showing  Starscream’s vital signs. He was still in stand-by, his condition having neither worsened nor bettered since her last check-up a few megacycles ago. Blackarachnia wasn’t sure how to feel about that. She supposed she should be glad he wasn’t going off-line at least. Megatrons was silent beside her, his optics firmly set on his second-in-command. She didn’t have the spark to tell him to leave and to be quite honest, there was no real need for her to do so either. It wasn’t like he was peeking over her shoulder non-stop. When Megatron hadn’t spend time getting to know their new human friends better, he had been in their makeshift med-bay, not saying or doing anything, just waiting for Starscream to wake up. Every time she came in, he would just mutely make room for her. The only time he had asked if she could tell him anything about his condition had been when he had entered the med-bay the morning after she had operated on Starscream to get his arm fixed on her behest. “We’ll just have to wait,” Blackarachnia had told him, trying hard to avoid his gaze by stubbornly busying herself with patching up his mangled servo. And that had been that. She finished her check on the monitor showing Starscream’s sparkbeats and ex-vented a little, turning to face Megatron. “I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but some time we have to discuss our next move. Particularly how we’re going to contact New Kaon.” She looked him right in the optics. “If what the humans say is to be believed, our crash-landing happened 50 of their years ago. And if my translations are correct, that means-” “We have been missing for 50 stellar cycles,” Megatron finished her sentence. There was fatigue in his voice. “I know. And you are right. Our main objective as of now should be to get in contact with our people. They need to know we haven’t perished. And that our expedition has been successful.” He ex-vented heavily, throwing one last look at Starscream and then turning towards the door. “Perhaps the humans can be of help. Their technology may not be as advanced as ours, but it has proven useful once already. If not communication, maybe we will at least be able to send a message.” Blackarachnia nodded, following him outside. When they entered the main hall they found themselves confronted by a very eager Blitzwing and not much less eager Amicable Archer standing on his shoulder. “Amicable Archer has just offered me to accompany him on one of his ‘patrols,” Blitzwing said, a wide smile on his face plate. “I feel that would help me learn more about the locals and their situation. With your permission, I would take him up on that offer.” Amicable Archer nodded. “Indeed! Methinks the metal knight would make a fine companion against Sumdac’s forces of evil.” Blackarachnia threw a cautious glance at Megatron. She knew he was usually more than capable of handling sudden requests, but it was safe to say the last few solar-cycles hadn’t really gone well for him. To her surprise, Megatron gave Blitzwing a soft smile with no trace of irritability or fatigue in it. “A good idea, Blitzwing. But do make sure to stay in contact. If this Sumdac is really as dangerous as our new friends say, he might well have something unpleasant waiting for us.” Blitzwing beamed. “I will! We will be back in about 2 megacycles.” “I doeth not know what that meaneth, but our watchful march should take no less than two hours,” Archer chimed in, putting his hands on his hips and striking a confident pose. __________________________________________________________ The two took off, Blitzwing transforming into jet mode in order to be less conspicuous. As Cyrus had told them in a rather bitter tone, drones flying their routes above Downtown wasn’t really anything special to the citizens and since everyone would be too busy keeping their head down and avoiding directly looking at whatever Sumdac aircraft was currently hovering over them, no one would notice that the jet was, in fact carrying someone. During their flight, Archer would occasionally point out places in which the resistance had fought (and won, as he never got tired to proudly proclaim) particularly tough battles against Sumdac’s forces. Ironically, the overlord’s stubborn refusal to use humans as well as robots in his newly instated police had made things a lot easier on the rebellion when it came to armed conflict. Since they weren’t in any danger of seriously harming some poor innocent sap who was forced to attack them they didn’t have to hold back and could use their bestowed weapons and abilities to their hearts’ content. As long as they made sure the civilians were evacuated first, of course. “After all, ‘tis our noble creed to protect the good people of Downtown from harm, not causeth them harm,” Archer said, crossing his arms and smiling proudly. “Funny,” Blitzwing mused. “We Decepticons have a similar ‘creed’, as you would say. We are programmed to respect and protect life at all costs. Before we came here, that usually meant the AllSpark. But you humans are life as well, which means we must protect you, too.” He paused for a second, before continuing: “Your little planet is so strange to me. You humans are so much smaller and so much more fragile than us and life has dealt you a heavy hand. Yet you just keep going and fighting the force that oppresses you, risking your life every time. It’s admirable, really.” “Oh, thou dost flatter, sir knight,” Archer chuckled, scratching the back of his head. “We doeth our best, but alas ‘tis not nearly enough to fully tame Overlord Sumdac’s forces, sadly. There art times I doth wish-” Archer suddenly interrupted himself and leaned forward to get a better look at the city passing below them. “Do I seeth smoke there?” A grey column rose in the distance before them, accompanied by a warm orange glow. “You humans have rather curious traditions,” Blitzwing said, chuckling nervously. Archer’s eyes widened. “Those arenst any traditions, friend! I knoweth these old factories, they have been shut down long ago when the tyrant Sumdac retreated the assembly of his armies into his fortress. Some of it’s old machinery musteth malfunctioned!” “But if I understand correctly, those buildings have long since been vacated. Why is it an issue if they get destroyed?” Blitzwing asked confused. “The fire couldeth take over to the city! Sumdac cares naught for the people who live here, so he will not send pawns to extinguish it in time if ever. We needeth to act!” Archer said, already fumbling for a particular arrow in his quiver. “Understood. Hang on tight, Archer.” Blitzwing turned towards the burning factory and put his thrusters to full power. Archer yelped as the sudden increase in velocity pressed him back into his seat. The two of them arrived and touched down a few meters away from the factory, Blitzwing transforming back into robot-mode as soon as the surrounding buildings hid them from sight. “Thankfully, our noble benefactor hast prepared me for this kind of calamity,” Archer beamed. He raised his hand to pull down a gas mask from a hidden pocket in his hat. The two took off into the fire. Blitzwing lowered his cannons, shooting ice beams into the highest fire walls. Ice crystals solidified in the spots the beams hit, suffocating the fire nigh instantly. Archer aimed arrows at the flames at his partner’s blind side, the tips of the projectiles releasing fire extinguishing foam upon exploding. In less than half an hour the fire was mostly under control, though Archer insisted on checking for any smaller flames they might have missed. They went deeper into the empty building, Archer lighting the way with yet another arrow. The ash and grime on the walls seemed to swallow the light as it hit them. The slowly melting ice created a steady background dripping. After the crackling and roaring of flames only a short time prior this place now seemed entirely too quiet. Archer had never liked places that were too quiet. It reminded him of... Cutting the memory off before it could fully form, Archer cleared his throat and stopped to turn to Blitzwing. “Well, it seemeth our work here is done. Shall we-” A quiet noise coming from the darkness interrupted him. It was a quiet, high-pitched sob, echoing from the high walls in an eerie manner. Blitzwing frowned. “It sounds like someone’s vocalizer is malfunctioning. Quite badly, in fact.” “We calleth that ‘crying’,” Archer said, slowly following the noise. “‘Tis a sign of distress and sadness among us humans. Though our youngest ones also often useth it to obtain things they doeth desire.” Not sure he entirely understood, Blitzwing followed the human. The light of the glowing arrow came upon a small human boy, curled up in the middle of the factory’s hall. His head was buried in his hands and he didn’t seem to have noticed them yet. Archer smiled warmly and approached the boy, extending a hand towards him. “Now what is a young one like you doing in a dismal place such as this? Didst thou get lost?” Blitzwing narrowed his optics. Something seemed off about this small organic. Archer had told him that humans were very susceptible to smoke and heat, to the point where it was impossible for them to function in an environment that had both aplenty. How had this little one be able to survive in here this long? And then the boy raised his head. It was only for a split-second and an organic eye wouldn’t have been able to catch it, but for a Cybertronians advanced optic it was visible enough. A flicker, like on a faulty monitor. Blitzwing’s optics widened. He jumped forward, servos closing around Archer’s body, just before an ear-shattering explosion blasted out the factory’s windows. ___________________________________________________________ Cyrus hated waiting. Especially if he had to wait alone. Sitting down and smelling the roses had never been his thing, not since Overlord Sumdac’s machines had overrun the city. Not that there had been many roses to smell after that. Aaron and Blitzwing had been gone for far too long for his liking now. And judging by the uneasy way Lugnut shifted beside him, he wasn’t the only one to think so. “Cyrus, was it not?” The voice startled him out of his thoughts and he jumped, looking upwards to meet Megatron’s worried blue....eyes? Lights? He wasn’t sure what they called it. It took him awhile to process what had been said to him. “Er, yeah. Yeah, that’s me.” “I do not mean to offend, but your human companion and Blitzwing have been gone for quite a while now. This patrol of yours, how long does it usually take?” Cyrus frowned. “Not that long actually. And seeing as they were doing it from a bird’s eye view it should’ve taken even less time today.” “I see,” Megatron answered. He seemed about as unsettled by this answer as Cyrus was. “Hey, um...you said you can stay in contact with each other, right?” Cyrus asked. Megatron nodded. “Maybe you should, y’know...contact him? Blitzwing? Just to be safe, I mean.” A penetrative beeping noise sprang up from Cyrus’ belt, making hism jump for the second time. “Sounds like somebody needs a check-up,” Blackarachnia pointed out. Cyrus looked down at the source of the noise, a small round device with a sleek white surface, his frown deepening. “No, that’s a distress signal. Archer, me and Pe- everyone else in the resistance has one of these communicators. We use it to call out to each other when we’re in a pinch.” He took the deice of the belt and tapped a button. “You okay, Archer? We’re all kind of starting to worry over here.” “As you should,” a metallic sounding voice responded. Megatron, Blackarachnia and Lugnut tensed up at hearing it, Blackarachnia even hissing slightly. “I must say, I never would have thought organics capable of constructing such a neat little communication device. It is remarkable primitive, but for your kind even that can be considered impressive.” Cyrus’ hand tightened around the communicator. “Who are you? What did you do with Archer?” “Nothing. Yet. And as for who I am...I am sure your new ‘allies’ can tell you more about that. We have met once before, after all,” the voice responded. Cyrus felt like he could hear the smug grin of its’ owner. He grit his teeth. “What do you want?” “First of all, I want to make sure that this is heard by the rest of the Decepticon-scum. Are they present?” “We are all here, Autobot,” Megatron answered, spitting out the word ‘Autobot’ like an insult. “I assume Blitzwing is with you as well?” “And you’d assume right,” the voice chuckled. “He is a bit worse for wear, but he’ll live...probably. Since you already deduced who I am, I will skip the introductions and get straight to the point. I know you are in possession of the AllSpark. And if you want your comrade and your precious little organic pet back, you will give it to me.” Megatron glared at the communicator in Cyrus’ hand. “We will need time to think about your offer. Give us a megacycle to debate.” “Stalling won’t help you, Decepticon-scum,” the voice spat. “But if you insist on wasting your friends’ time, you shall have your megacycle. And when it has passed, I expect to see you at these coordinates, with the AllSpark.” A light in the device flickered and it went out. Cyrus pressed another button on the surface, hurrying over to a control panel attached to a monitor and connecting the communicator with it. The screen flared to life, showing a map of Downtown with a small red dot flaring up to mark a specific spot. “I know that place,” Cyrus said, leaning forward. “It’s one of the abandoned factories on the other side of the city.” He turned back to the Decepticons, face hard. “If we hurry, we can make it there in under half an hour. We have to leave, now.” “Cyrus, it is not that simple,” Megatron said calmly. “We cannot rush into this without thinking. If this Autobot gets the AllSpark into his servos, this entire planet will be at risk.” “You’re not seriously suggesting that we’re refusing, are you?” Blackarachnia asked incredulously. “He’s got Blitzwing! And who knows what he’ll do to that human!” “Yeah, what she said!” Cyrus spoke up. “I’m not leaving Aaron with some crazy alien murder machine! I thought you Decepticons were the good guys and now you’re actually considering letting two hostages get who knows what done to them?” “You are both far too emotional.” Lugnut had stood up from his place on the assembly line and was now glaring at both Cyrus and Blackarachnia. “For once, I agree with Megatron. Handing the AllSpark over to the Autobot Empire is certain death. Two lives are not worth the prize of billions.” “So that��s it?” Blackarachnia asked, narrowing her optics at him. “We just let Blitzwing and the human die?” “We all must make sacrifices for the greater good,” Lugnut said gravely. “Do you think this is easy for me, Blackarachnia?” “I don’t know,” she hissed. “Isn’t it?” “Enough, both of you,” Megatron cut her off. “This is no time to argue amongst ourselves. Lugnut, I agree that the AllSpark must be kept from the wrong servos at all costs.” The big Decepticon straightened himself and opened his mouth to say something, but Megatron wasn’t finished. “However, I also share Blackarachnia’s feelings on the matter. We have already almost lost a fellow Decepticon yesterday. I do not wish to experience that again. Neither should an innocent human become victim of our wars.” Megatron turned and walked over to Cyrus, kneeling down in front of him. “Cyrus. You have stated that you know the place the Autobot has chosen for the exchange. Do you know it well enough to show one of us the ways around and inside it?” Cyrus nodded. “Yes, I think so. Aaron and I used to scout out these buildings regularly, in case we needed another hideout.” “Good,” Megatron said. “Then I would ask you to help us to prepare a nasty little surprise for our Autobot-friend. Though I must warn you, it won’t be without risk.” “Eh, what else is new?” Cyrus answered, giving a grin. “If it’ll knock that kidnapper down a few pegs, count me in!” Megatron smirked. “Oh, I should hope that it does. Here is what I need you to do...” ______________________________________________________________ Hothead rebooted to a a voice frantically calling Blitzwing’s name. In his processor he identified it as belonging to the organic who called himself Amicable Archer and whom Blitzwing had, apparently successfully, tried to protect from a booby trapped hologram. He groaned in annoyance, forcing the rest of his systems to reboot so he could access the situation and more importantly get Archer to stop yelling at him. His optical sensors reactivated slowly and he lifted his helm to see Archer standing on his chest, only a few centimeters away from his face-plate. Hothead quickly scanned the human’s body for any damage. Aside from a few tears in his costume and some grime on his face, Archer seemed unharmed. “Will you stop yelling at me, human?” Hothead snapped, still only half rebooted vocalizer making his voice sound hoarse. “My audials are functioning quite nicely.” Archer blinked in confusion and took a few steps backwards, but then shook his head as if recovering from some kind of stupor. “My apologies, friend. Thou seemeth to be rendered unconscious from that explosion and with the way the ghastly shadow knight treated thou, I wasnth sure you wouldeth make it.” He paused for a moment, as if uncertain about what to say next. “I couldeth not stop noticing that thine visage seemeth to have changed, along with thine manner of speech and demeanor. Artst thou truly not hurt?” Hothead ex-vented slightly. “No, I am alright. It is a long story. I am not the Blitzwing you know.. Let us leave it at that for now.” Suddenly remembering Archer’s earlier words, he frowned. “Who did you mean by ghastly knight? What-?” He tried to sit up and found that he couldn’t move his arms. A hastly look downward, revealed that someone had wound a thick metal cable tightly around his upper body, pinning his arms to his sides and keeping his cannons from lowering. Archer looked at him miserably. “I tried to stop him, but he tooketh my weapons and threatened to hurt thee.” “Not that he would have been able to stop me even with them. But I wanted to stay on the safe side. You never know with organics.” Hothead and Archer turned their head towards the source of the voice. A slender-looking Autobot with white armor-plating and a red triangular visor covering both of his optics was leaning on against the opposite wall with his servos crossed, giving a smug smirk. “I see you’ve finally decided to join us.” Hothead growled, trying to break his bonds. “You! I remember you, you cowardish, puny Autobot! Release me at once!” The Autobot chuckled. “So you can slag me like you almost did last time? I think not. And I’d advise you to behave.” He lowered his helm, so his line of sight now aligned with Archer. “You wouldn’t want anything to happen to the organic, would you?” “Touch him and you’ll burn, Autobot!” Hothead snarled. “Always so barbaric. You Decepticon-scum really are just mindless war machines,” the Autobot ex-vented in mock disappointment. “The only thing your kind is good for is destruction. Yet here you are, pretending like you’re actually capable of protecting anything.” Hothead flinched and grit his denta, lowering his helm. “Thou art wrong!” Both Hothead and the Autobot turned to look at Archer in surprise, who had lifted himself up to his full height and was now glaring at the Autobot. “Mine companion mayeth possess fearsome battle prowess, but that doeseth not make him less of a knight! He didst protect me from thy nefarious trap after all, didst he not?” For a moment, neither of the two Cybertronians said a word. Then the Autobot laughed. “You’ve certainly trained him well! If he was a little bigger he’d probably be easier to take seriously too, don’t you think?” Before Hothead could answer, the Autobot raised his helm as if listening for something, then put a digit to his auidal and smirked. “I’d love to stay and chat, but it looks like your friends just arrived with my AllSpark.” He walked out of the room, pressing a button on the other side of the entrance. A metal door slowly closed on cue. The Autobot grinned at them before it closed fully. “Don’t go anywhere.” _______________________________________________________ Megatron and Blackarachnia made their way into the burnt out building, carrying the AllSpark between them. Blackarachnia grimaced at the heavy smoke-smell in the air. It wasn’t bad enough to have a negative impact on her organic half but still strong enough to make her a bit uncomfortable. “Are you alright, Blackarachnia?” Megatron asked, giving her a worried look. “I can carry the AllSpark by myself, if you feel unwell.” Blackarachnia shook her helm. “I’m good. We should focus on getting Blitzwing and Archer back.” They stopped in the center of the hall, carefully lowering their cargo to the ground. “I see you’ve used your time well.” Blackarachnia and Megatron whirled around, taking defensive positions. Behind them stood an Autobot, servos crossed and an extremely smug expression on his face plate. Blackarachnia’s optics widened. “I know him! He was one of the ‘bots who boarded the ‘Nemesis’.” The Autobot laughed. “So you remember me? I’m flattered.” “I remember you getting your sorry soulanoid kicked by us,” Blackarachnia sneered. “Figures a spineless wimp like you would result to taking hostages.” The Autobot gave a derisive huff and put a hand on his hip, looking both of them over. “The name is Prowl. Though after this is over I won’t stay here long enough to get more acquainted.” His visor set itself on the AllSpark. “Leave it here and retreat.” “I think not, Autobot,” Megatron said coolly, stepping forward and drawing his sword. “Let us see the hostages first.” Prowl gave him an irritated look. “You will see them once I have the AllSpark. Now step away.” Instead of answering, Megatron gestured Blackarachnia to step aside, raising his sword over the AllSpark. “I do not like to repeat myself, Prowl. Release the hostages or I will destroy the AllSpark.” Prowl stiffened. “You wouldn’t dare.” “Wouldn’t I?” Megatron responded coldly, returning Prowl’s glare with steady optics. The Autobot hesitated, standing in place. Time seemed to stand still as the three Cybertronians stood off against each other, trying to figure out the enemy’s next move. _________________________________________________________ “Are you certain this is the right place?” Lugnut asked, optic trained on the wall in front of him. Cyrus was currently feeling said wall with both of his hands, teeth grit in frustration. “Give me a break, I haven’t been here in weeks! Ah, there we go.” He peeled off a part of the wall, revealing a hidden panel and pressed one of the buttons. Cyrus stepped back and watched nervously as the seemingly solid steel folded in on itself to form an entrance about Lugnut’s size. “Gotta be honest with you, I had no idea if this old  delivery gate even still worked. We found it some time during our second or third visit here and noted it as a possible emergency exit, if we ever decided to camp here. Guess I’m glad we didn’t now.” They entered the building together, treading carefully. After a while, Lugnut suddenly grabbed Cyrus carefully with his claw, making him yelp in surprise and placed him on his shoulder. “It is dark in here. I do not wish to step on you by accident,”he stated, when Cyrus gave him a confused look. “Er..thanks.” Cyrus stood up and balanced himself on the side of Lugnut’s helm. “Though maybe give a little warning next time.” Lugnut nodded. “Understood.” They made their way through the halls, Lugnut’s searchlights showing them the way. “Pick anything up yet?” Cyrus asked, stretching to look ahead into the darkness. “A faint Decepticon-signal, but it is dampened. Blitzwing must be damaged to some capacity.” Lugnut’s optic shrunk, an expression Cyrus had learned to identify as his version of a scowl. “The Autobot-filth will regret this.” “I hear ya,” Cyrus growled. “Still got a bone to pick with that guy for kidnapping Aaron.” Lugnut and Cyrus followed the signal until they came to a locked heavy metal door, not unlike the hidden one Cyrus had used to get them in. “The signal is clearest here,” Lugnut said, eyeing the door up and down. “They must be close.” “Great! Put me down, so I can-” Before Cyrus had the chance to finish his sentence, Lugnut retracted his right arm and rammed it into the door full-force. A loud crash, amplified by the echo of the empty hallway rung through the air. ______________________________________________________________ As soon as the sound reached the hall, Prowl whirled around. “What the-?” Blackarachnia lunged for him before he could run - only for her servos to close around nothing as the hologram of Prowl disappeared into thin air. She caught herself, cursing. “Slag! Of course he’d use that trick again.” “That was a mistake, Decepticon,” Prowl’s voice came from the shadows around them, impossible to pin down. “Your friends will not appreciate this.” Blackarachnia and Megatron positioned themselves back to back, searching the darkness for some hint of their opponent. “He has us pinned,” Megatron said through grit denta. “If we move he will either attack or flee without us even seeing him.” “Yeah, he- wait, seeing?” Blackarachnia’s optics widened. “That’s it! How was he able to react us in exactly the right way, if he was never really here? He has to have been close by. It was the same on the ‘Nemesis’! He attacked Lugnut right after his hologram was destroyed, as if he was just a few steps away.” She turned her helm to Megatron. “Fire your cannon about a few mechanometers to the right!” Megatron raised his free arm and fired at the spot she had pointed out. A startled yell came from the area the shot had hit and a heavy ‘clunk!’ filled the hall. The Decepticons turned, Megatron aiming his searchlight towards the sound. Prowl lay on the floor, glaring up at them and holding his left servo. It was almost entirely shot off, only a fracture of a base skeleton and a few sparking cables remaining. “You’ll regret this,” he growled, pushing himself to his pedes and taking a shaky step towards them. Before either of the three could do anything further, the door behind him was blown open, shrouding the room in smoke. When it cleared again, Lugnut stepped into the room, Cyrus and Archer riding on his right shoulder, while he supported a limping Hothead on his left. “Where is that  Autobot-filth?” Hothead shouted, trying and failing to push himself away from Lugnut and stand on his own servos. “I will incinerate him! Let me go!” “Thou art barely able to stand, friend,” Archer chuckled. “Perhaps thy vengeance can waiteth until a time thou art well again?” “Listen to the human, Hothead,” Lugnut said. Hothead growled, but he stopped struggling. “Hey guys,” Cyrus called to Blackarachnia and Megatron. “Where is that Autobot?” Megatron looked around, frowning. “It appears he has gotten away.” “And he didn’t exactly leave us with good wishes,” Blackarachnia added grimly. “We should go after him.” Megatron thought for a moment, then shook his helm. “We should get Blitzwing and the AllSpark to safety first. The Autobot was hurt. He will not come far.” After gathering up the AllSpark and Blackarachnia doing a quick patching up of Hothead’s wounds, the group took off in vehicle mode, Cyrus and Blackarachnia riding on Lugnut, while Archer remained with Hothead. When they arrived back at the resistance’s base, they were greeted by a bust-in entrance. Rubble from the door was strewn about and destroyed Sumdac-drones littered the area. “What the spark happened here?” Blackarachnia exclaimed. “Oh nothing to worry about really,” a familiar voice answered her. Megatron perked up upon hearing it, hope and joy filling his optics. Could it be-? It was. Starscream stepped out from the base’s entrance, smiling. “It is good to see you all again. Though we did have everything under control.” He turned his helm and raised his hand to give a (very gentle and disproportionate) high-five to a small girl with short pink hair who had made herself comfortable on his shoulder plate. “Hi Cyrus, hi Aaron,” she beamed, waving a wand-like object with a glowing tip at the two other humans. “I made a new friend!” _________________________________________________________ Prowl dragged himself through the empty narrow side streets, flinching every time his ripped off arm emitted a spark. This solar cycle had not gone at all like he imagined. As if waking up on this primitive planet wasn’t bad enough, that disgusting techno-organic had actually managed to see through his technique and now he would have to spend precious time to find a repair shop. At least things couldn’t possibly get any worse. A metallic noise sounded to his right and he turned his helm. A large assembly of drones, a sinister-looking ‘S’ engraved on their torsos stood there. “Energy signature match,” they chanted in unison. “Retrieve subject. Return to base. Retrieve subject. Return to base. Retrieve-”

[needs-to-stop-looking-at-valves]

Tfa character review! (6/12)

You know em, you LOVE to hate them! Give it up to our mechs and fems in purple,

Decepticons!

Megatron!!;

The big mech. The boss. The head honcho of the cons, its Megatron!! This one is an EXTRA bitch (all of them are really??) And it shows. He appreciates the finer things in life. Wine glasses, loyal followers, and looking just SNATCHED. This Megatron differs from tfp counterpart in his sense of grandeur, but he still knows how to be just as big and just as bold. Intelligent, manipulative, he's the big sexy mafia boss type mech that us all acting like Lugnuts. He believes he's a hero, and thinks he can forge a new, grand Cybertron. And he'll cut down anyone who stands in his way.

Verdict:hes a LOT like tfp Megatron, but his temper went from brute, to tired business boss. And i love the difference here, it SUITS him, and it was such a minor tweak that differed him from other Megatrons, while still being a very recognizable Megatron. 9/10, i want him to seduce me with his voice. Bring him home, he'll have everyone wrapped around his finger, and your parents will beg him to marry your ass.

Blackarachnia!!;

Oh. Oh. Oooooh the queen! The goddess!! I've been in love with her the second i saw her in tfp. She's...hoo boy. For one she's an absolute thief. By which i mean she stole my heart💗. Okay, imma stop being gay for two seconds. She has SUCH a complex character compared to her other counterparts(not to say Beast wars wasn't A+), that i love every single moment shes on screen. SUCH a polar opposite from beast wars. That girl was proud of herself day one. This one grew to hate herself, and hate her whole body. As well as hate autobots. Even when she turned decepticon however, she still held honest qualities. She never went back on her word (aka when she offered the antidote to Optimus like she promised), and had a soft spot for other organics, like Sari. I LOVED her character completely. I WISHED she would've gone through something similar to beast wars, where she was with the autobots for a while,and then maybe left?? But thats just me REALLY wanting her to be like the fancy wine aunt to Sari. Shes her own bitch, made her own choices, won my respect, told Sentinel to fuck off. And i respect and love the bitch for it.

Verdict:10/10. I love EVERY moment she was on screen. Completely. She was charming, snarky, and knew EXACTLY how to get what she wanted from whoever she wanted. Bring her home. Shes the bad girl your folks warned you against, but?? You ain't EVER leaving this bitch. Smart, snatched, witty? She's your SOULMATE.

Blitzwing!!;

Our favorite triple changer german boy! He didn't get as MUCH screentime as i would've liked, but that could just be me and my weakness for bots with accents. I loved EVERYTIME he was on screen (and not just in Blitzbee context) and i found him an incredibly entertaining character. I liked getting familiar with each of his faces and his constant banter with himself and others, there's never a dull moment with him on screen. Plus lets face it, you HAVE to swoon over this absolute UNIT of a boy. A total hotty botty whom i adore COMPLETELY.

Verdict:9/10. His personality changes constantly, but he's a big hottie bottie. Take him home, and your folks will be impressed in one way or another.

Lugnut!!;

Oh my god!! The biggest, beefest, THICKEST Megatron fan boy you've ever seen! In case you guys haven't noticed, i LOVE Lugnut! Hes not the smartest boy, but he's the thirstiest for Megatron. His constant spiels of his leader and of his own devotion is his ENTIRE vocabulary. He will fuck up ANYONE and EVERYONE for Megatron. He shares this passion with his queen, Strika, and his want to be Megatron's favorite with Shockwave.

Verdict:9/10. I SHOULDN'T like him. He's extremely repetitive, but this loyal puppy dog mentality, coupled with the CHONK of the boy, as well as his constant efforts to do good by his team, makes him VERY loveable. Its just so hard NOT to like him!

[sternerstufftoys]

As in electron

So I guess before Bludgeon and Thunderwing and Galvatron and Scorponok and Overlord and Ratbat and Soundwave and Straxus and Shockwave there was this guy in charge of the Decepticons called Megatron? And it turns out there's been a couple of toys of him? Who knew?

Oh, I'm such a wag. But to be honest, I don't really have a huge amount to say about Megatron as a character. He was pretty much before my time, y'see. I was born in 1984, and by the time I was old enough to understand Transformers the era of Megatron was long, long gone. I've already spoken about how Rodimus was 'my' Prime, and even though Optimus Prime had been thoroughly returned in Powermaster form in 1988, and Megatron did make appearances in the Marvel comic throughout it's run even after death (a sort of clone, a body swap, an actual resurrection all clown-carred together into a fantastically convoluted mess) I always tended to see the original Optimus/Megatron years as a sort of prehistory, the Before-Times when the older kids were into Transformers and I was more into wearing nappies. It's in our nature as children to want to take ownership of the things we like, and a previous generation's toys can have something of an off-putting nature to them. Child me would have killed for a Galvatron toy, but turned his nose up at a Megatron.

So, roughly 4 million years later I'm an adult collector putting in a preorder for MMC Tyrannotron, confident that this will be The One Megatron that I can keep forever. See, the other problem with Optimus Prime and Megatron is that these days they receive so many new toys that I'm worried about being tempted to keep upgrading to a newer model. But this one was a keeper, a high-end third-party toy from Mastermind Creations, based on his latest iteration in the IDW comics. Yes, I thought to myself, this is a keeper. And then it was announced that the IDW universe would be ending. Hnnng.

Still a great Megatron. A great look. And while it's both unofficial and twice the price of the recent Flame Toys model kit, it does at least transform. Sort of. The problem is of course that during the entire run where Megatron took this shape, he never once actually transformed, not once. So it was pretty much down to MMC to decide what form that big hunky dadbod should turn into. And they came up with... a thing. Sort of a thing. It's not entirely clear.

It's got treads rather than wheels, an elongated nosecone which doubles as an absurdly oversized fusion cannon (hard to have a go at Tarn's double cannon any more when yours is the size of an entire other person) and tiny little wings near the back. Is it a tank? A jet? It's impossible to properly categorise it, because it looks like it was made up as they went along. Like, they put a bunch of transforming joints in, folded it up a few times, and took what they ended up with and slapped a few vehicle mode bits on. Yeah, as a transforming transformer, this is not a highlight. But even so, it does have a hell of a lot of presence, able to trundle down a motorway taking up all three lanes at once before kerblamming a path through anything that happened to be in its way. Lorries, cars, Little Chefs, that sort of thing.

I feel considerably more attachment for the IDW version of G1 Megs than anything coming from the cartoon. This was a character with an incredibly well-defined arc, far more so than Optimus Prime's, even if that arc was largely retrofitted in after the fact. The social-revolutionary-poet-turned-murderous-warlord became a far more identifiable character than the designated bad guy that filled TV screens back in 1984, and aspects of this characterisation quickly became absorbed into the mainstream, in Prime and now Cyberverse. Megatron's time in the pages of More Than Meets the Eye / Lost Light shone a spotlight on the dualistic nature of his character, and put him onto a path of... well not exactly redemption, though many people are quick to label it as such. More a journey of rediscovery, of being able to find the person you once were before things went wrong, and bring that person back. And even by the end, Megatron's 4 million years of warmongering still outweigh his 800 years of good deeds. But at least Megatron ended his time in the comic as the person he wanted to be. That's powerful stuff. Most other Megatrons go out screaming incoherently and blowing up, so it's a definite step forward.

Or, if you want to take a step back, MMC put in another surprise, because with a few swapped-out pieces you can go from his final form to the very first one he was seen in, way back in Megatron Origin. Lest we forget, this was so early in IDW's tenure with the Transformers franchise that it had originally been pitched to Dreamwave, which today looks a bit like a first draft of many of the things IDW went on to do.

The alt mode makes a lot more sense now, since the front-facing fusion cannon has been replaced with a massive mining drill, and the wings swapped out for safety-striped panels. The drill can still be fastened to his arm in robot mode, but if you want to give him a more warmongering look you can swap out the drill bit itself for another, rounder fusion cannon barrel. Again, this one is ridiculously oversized, but I actually prefer it to the modern-look cannon. Unfortunately the yellow safety stripes are still there, which does look a bit out of place if you're looking to fit the Origin cannon on the MTMTE body. You also get a new head, mixing the miner and gladiator looks from the comic, and a new chest piece. It's not a perfect reproduction, but it's nice to have bonus options to represent the beginning and end of Megatron's life.

Still though, I can't help but feel that the effort would have been better spent making the MTMTE alt mode more attractive than dual-purposing the whole thing for a different look. It's a figure first, and a transformer second, which is a real shame. You also get, rather predictably, a lightsaber based on the 1986 movie and a purple energy flail-mace-whatever-thingy because Prime and Megatron will never escape that once scene where they briefly pull melee weapons out of their sleeves. You do a party trick one time and your mates will never forget it. Anyway, the mace is crap, having a real metal chain which makes it impossible to do action poses, and I've found the lightsaber far more useful given to other characters in need of a power-up. Blitzwing likes it a lot, for example.

I mean really, I bought this bastard so that I'd never need to buy another Megatron again, and so far it's worked out. But as time goes on and the original IDW 'verse fades into history he becomes more and more of a relic of past times. Alas, etc.

[j-starchaser]

The issue isn’t really that Cybertron is war-torn.

It’s the extremely militaristic and authoritarian society that the Autobots have built.

(Mentions of colonies and the whole thing being called the “Autobot Commonwealth” aren’t helping the image)

For example, military rank equals political rank. There seems to be no “civilian” leadership, there seem to be no civilians at all.

Hell, people get their names from their drill sergeants.

Everyone has their assigned place of usefulness based on your performance in boot camp and you’re not supposed to do things you’re not “programmed” for.

Optimus has to go through a lot of development before he starts seeing his team as individuals and approaching them as such instead of quoting propaganda and attempting to pull rank. This development is only possible through necessity and being cut off from any authority figures back home.

Wasp’s story shows us that if there is even a suspicion of you being an enemy spy, they’re going to arrest you on the spot and lock you up for life in conditions so awful, you go insane.

This is not a society that encourages creativity, the free exchanges of ideas and a healthy level of questioning authority.

It’s also canon (and not a surprise) that Autobot leadership has destroyed huge amounts of historical documents.

What are they covering up? Are they afraid of people finding out some shady stuff and questioning their authority?

Autobot leadership is paranoid.

So they are overcompensating by being overly suspicious and controlling.

But what about the Decepticons?

Well, they’re actually very much the opposite in many ways:

The Decepticons don’t have any real plan to them:

What is their goal? They want to kick the Autobots out of Cybertron and keep it for themselves. How? Well, something about the Allspark I guess, if they ever find it.

Sure, they have one guy who infiltrated the enemy’s highest ranks, but other than that everything just seems to depend on Megatron’s vague promise of returning to Cybertron by using the Allspark. When Megs is gone, everyone seems lost and nothing gets accomplished from what we see.

They have no structure either:

Some Cons follow Megatron directly (Lugnut, Blitzwing, Strika etc.).

But others like Swindle and Lockdown just do whatever they want.

Everyone knows those two work with anyone who pays them, including Autobots. And yet Megatron doesn’t seem to have an issue with that.

Swindle even wears the insignia, but is functionally a Neutral.

Decepticons can choose their alignment and their “career path” freely.

Decepticons also see creativity and individualism very differently:

When Megatron establishes his base in the old mine, the first change we see is that the walls were painted purple. Because I guess atmosphere and branding are important.

Lockdown reassembles his body in whichever ways he thinks are more fun, intimidating and effective.

The most artistic example is Blitzwing, who (in a comic) builds a statue for Megatron when they thought he died. He’s also often seen singing and dancing.

Yeah, his 3 faces are extremely strange, but nobody actually brings it up. Him and Blackarachnia insult each other equally. And the worst thing Megatron ever says about Blitzwing is that he “seems a little unstable”.

His weirdness is just accepted.

On the other hand we have Elita, an Elite Guard in training who had an accident and was turned into a techno-organic. Yet she was so scared of what the Autobots would do to her, she preferred to join the Decepticons rather than go home for help.

Again, Decepticons are fine with people who are different. Autobots are not.

It’s also fascinating that we see several examples of Autobots joining the Decepticons - Blackarachnia, Swindle, Lockdown - and they’re generally accepted without question, from what we see (tho some - like Strika - may be skeptical of their commitment).

But not one example of a Decepticon changing sides and integrating into Autobot society.

On the contrary, Autobots hear horror stories (propaganda) about how Decepticons are pure evil who “eat Autobot protoforms for breakfast”. They don’t even see Cons as sentient people.

So, for Decepticons:

Free thinking/creativity/choice is completely fine.

But there is little structure or plan to whatever they are doing. Almost like the Decepticons are trying to distance themselves from the way Autobots run things and might be overdoing it slightly.

... starting to sense a theme here.

One side is accepting of weirdness and creativity but a disorganized, unfocused mess. The other side is so obsessed with structure and control, it became oppressive and intolerant.

Makes you wonder what Cybertronian society was like before the split...

In conclusion:

Somehow, maybe entirely by accident, TFA is the continuity with the most naturally nuanced, grey and different morality between the factions.

So like, are you telling me that Cybertron in TFA is so war torn and messed up that they do not have the luxury means of understanding art?

It’s moments like these that I feel like needs to be pointed out with the series a little… It’s just a weirdly sad thought, I don’t know. 

[kidknux]

You HAVE to tell us more about your tf au. I'm begging you

I’d love to talk about the au! It’s also @captainofthestars​‘s au, so don’t forget that you can ask him questions too! We’re each handling about half the characters; some of the ones he’s in charge of are Blurr, Metroplex, Spike Witwicky, and Perceptor. We both love getting questions!

In the meantime, I guess have some scattered trivia??

We have a list of the main ‘teams’ to keep track of what characters go where. Some of the main ones on earth are Team Optimus (Optimus, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Prowl, Bulkhead, and Omega Supreme) the Rod Squad (Hot Rod, Wheeljack, Rung, Whirl, Arcee, Tailgate, and Byte) and the Rescue Bots (Heatwave, Chase, Boulder, Blades, and Wreck-Gar) plus their various human friends and (eventually) cybertronian visitors. One other team is... unique, and we still have to figure out how they line up together.

Minicons here are a little more common than in TFA, but nowhere near as common as, say, the trilogy. They’re loosely defined as any bot who falls within human size, so around seven-eight feet tall or smaller. Swerve, who’s right at eight feet tall, and Prowl, who manages to hit nine with heels, both barely escape the label on a technicality. Since there’s such a big range of sizes, though, we’ve been thinking about having a lot of different size classes. We’ll have to think on it more before we can get you guys anything solid, though.

Sentinel Prime is Here and surprisingly, having both of his conjunx die and one of them going down with Megatron and ending the war has maybe made him like..... a tiny bit less of a jerk than normal, just slightly. He handled Optimus’s death a lot differently. More on him when we manage to design him, though.

Black Arachnia is in space as Strika’s main scientist, but Strika trusts her like... not at all. Blitzwing also hates her, after she turned him into a triple changer. Her voice and a lot of character beats have been borrowed from GLaDOS to add to her TFA characterization, and she has a cute little lab assistant named Antagony.

Wheeljack and Perceptor are long-time conjunx, and one of them might be amica with Skyfire. Jetfire and Jetstorm have been under their care since they were sparklings. Things might have gone downhill after Wheeljack was pulled away to go into the war effort, and then declared dead. Those five will probably be able to expand on that later in their bios, especially Percy’s.

One part of Cybertronian anatomy is an energon converter, roughly named. it might be able to be considered roughly analogous to like... a stomach before the more obvious fuel tank stomach. It converts edible energon and other fuels like gasoline into a more uniform state that cycles through the body. One quirk of it is that it converts different colors of energon for different bots; blue and pink are the most common, but other colors like yellow or green are seen a lot too. The color is generally reflected by optic color, but that color can change if someone decided to get tinted optics rather than clear ones.

Longarm assigned Punch to spy on the Decepticons as Counterpunch before the war ended. He’s been in deep cover long enough that it’s dangerous, but there’s still no word from Longarm for when he should return.

There are a few different mutations that can happen to protoforms. One of them is obviously outlier abilities, powers that a Cybertronian manifest that go outside of their initial design or intentionally made upgrades. Bumblebee’s stingers don’t count, Ratchet’s EMP generator doesn’t count, but Hot Rod’s overheating ability counts. Flight frames and aquatic altmodes are both considered mutations, and generally result in bots who are much larger than usual after several significant growth spurts late in development; immobile altmodes are another one, but generally result in smaller bots. One mutation resulted in a deformed t-cog that occasionally caused problems during transformations; through experimentation on Blitzwing, Black Arachnia discovered that bots with that mutation could become triple-changers with just minor adjustments.

Byte is the smallest character we have, at an inch tall. Windup and the Cassettes are the closest to that, at around six inches tall.

Cybertron used to circle a star, allegedly, but it doesn’t anymore. The two moons, at least, continue to circle the planet. To imitate the old day and night, the core of Cybertron is illuminated on a schedule, dimming for one solar cycle and returning to full brightness for the next solar cycle. It’s generally expected for citizens to follow the imposed schedule, but it’s debatable if they actually do.

Swerve and Blurr are friends. Like, actually for real friends. Really.