#Mecha Team Leader

[nizaen]

Protector.

[thenumberfives]

i got bored

[marvology]

[binxdoesgaming]

🌟 Pawsitivly Perfect 🌟

The Perfect Score emote is honestly one of my favorite ones we've had in a while. It's just super cute and really fun!

Special thanks to Harper (@joeyscorneryt on here and @/HarperGoesUWU over on Twitter) for the emote and the footage for Mecha Team Shadow!

[lucilassie]

Comin for your head, take cover 👊🤖

Model: @weirdfandomchick (Mecha Team Leader)

[slumbrr-r]

Y’all cool with mechs?

I was inspired by a show called Mecha-Ude when I first started making this AU.

And all “special abilities” for each team leader:

(Notice how team D and E don’t exist, I haven’t even made them 💀)

[starimusprime]

ok ok!! ya got me to start a talkin!! ok so anyways im not much of a storyteller but my hc is post movie so big fat spoilers on the way

anyway, elitas been like SUPER clingy to optimus after she gives him the lil pep talk

peep the images. constantly being by his side. heck, even CHOOSING to run ACROSS the battlefield to be next to him

so oppys like “hmm, she DOES know what she’s doing and i do need someone who’s more experienced in leading.��

yea THAT scene (her flustered “who me 🥺??” will forever be living rent free in my mind)

(ew wips)

optimus: Well, I’ve been thinking of another promotion; With the Quintessons still at large, there’s a chance they’ll have my head. I’m needing a bodyguard. Someone by my side 24/7 to ensure I don’t make “stupid decisions”

(im terrible at writing dialogue dont bully me 😔👊🏽)

so elita sees this as an opportunity. Which yknow, her whole character arc was her wanting to prove herself and all.

especially now bc she feels SO SO guilty that she couldn’t save optimus, or stop Megatron in time :((

(adding to this hc she does cling to his left arm after the events(tm)

Oh yea and oppy now lives in the tower as he is now The Leader Of Cybertron

he moves most of his pals in their too (jazz, B, WheelJack, Arcee etc.)

HOWEVER THO

(nother wip)

he wants elita in HIS quarters bc shes his bodyguard. so of course he’s gonna need her berth closest to him

(Perhaps 2 ppl 1 bed trope teehee 🤭)

anyway. das my 2 cents. i hope that helped in anyway for prompts. again i aint much of a storyteller but i have concepts!!

I need to break this down into a summary of my favorite points because WHAT THIS IS SO GOOD!

Clingy Elita. Makes sense, especially her tendency to be on his left. Launchpad for tension, perhaps Optimus starting to wonder if she’s okay because she’s being overprotective even for a bodyguard.

Optimus seeking leadership advice from Elita since she was the captain of his mining team and he’s never been in an authoritative role for anyone ever. Builds trust, confidence, and mutual respect between them. Beautiful.

Mutual subconscious pining revealed through Elita’s desire to prove herself via protecting and advising Optimus and through Optimus’ desire to station her as close to him as possible at all times, maybe because he is as afraid of losing her as she’s afraid of losing him (again). Did I mention mutual pining? 🤌

Optimus not just taking over Sentinel’s tower (does anyone know its official name?) but sharing it as a sort of headquarters with his Autobot High Command. Love exploring the facets of his being that separates him from mecha like Sentinel, selflessness being one of the biggest differences.

Thank you so much Munejewels I am eating this up for dessert tonight and will use it as inspiration to produce a banquet for my fellow Optimus Prime X Bodyguard Elita fans

[howi99]

Son of the blue lion chapter 2

In the middle of the night, someone is entering RWBY'S dorm

*poke poke*

Yang: Mghn.... zzzzz

*poke poke*

Yang: *mumbling* Ruby, stop it, it's too early-

???: *whispering* Yang, i need your help.

Yang: *still half asleep* ... Jaune? Why are you...

Jaune: You got a motorcycle, right? I need to use i-

Yang: *now fully waking up* Woah there! Bumblebee isn't something that i- mfhm!?

Jaune: *placing his hand on her mouth, making a silence gesture* Don't wake up the other.

Yang: ... *Slowly nod*

Jaune: *removing his hand* Now, i know Bumblebee is like your baby, and i wouldn't ask you for help if i didn't have to leave but-

Yang: *aghast but still whispering* You are leaving!? W-why?! *As her eyes get used to the dark, she can see that Jaune is in his complete armor.* Does it have anything to do with what happened yesterday?

Jaune: *looking away* It's... nothing any of you should be worried about. I don't want anyone else to be hurt.

Yang: ... *Shaking her head* I can't just let you go alone, just wait for me and-

Jaune: *fear in his eyes* No!

RWB_: *Waking up from the sound*

Ruby: *looking at the source of the sound* What the... Jaune?

Weiss: *taking her scroll to get a bit more light* Why are you here!?

Blake: *take one look at him* ... You know, if you wanted time alone with Yang, you should have told me.

Jaune: ... Shit.

_____________________________________

Team RWBY is now looking at Jaune, who is now sitting on a chair

Weiss: *massaging her temples* So let me get this straight; you enter into our dorm in the middle of the night in full fighting gear so you could get Yang motorcycle to go fight an evil man in Vale... *Look at Blake* Ever got an impression of déjà vue?

Jaune: *sigh* That's the best i can say, yes.

Ruby: But why don't you want our help?

Jaune: ...

Yang: Wait... Is that man..?

Jaune: *looking at the ground* He was one of them, yes.

Yang: *eyes glowing red* And you wanted to go fight him alone!? Didn't you warn Blake of the same thing?! That she would get killed if she tried going against the White Fang by herself?

Jaune: *shaking his head* It's not the same, nothing is the same.

Blake: Ok, that will be the kettle calling the pot black, but what do you mean it's not the same? I almost died at the dock and against the mecha. Had it not been for my team...

Jaune: We don't have the same goal at all. *Getting up* You want to stop the white fang, yes? Well, what *point to himself* ""I""wants is to murder the sons of bitches who tortured my best friend!

The room turn silent

Ruby: ... Murder? But... You are one of the kindest guys I know!

Jaune: *Turn to Ruby* Well guess what? I'm not! I'm a monster and all of you already know! You just all like pretending i never spoke about my past and what i did!

Blake: You were forced!

Jaune: Forced? I was forced to see a bunch of kids die while they drained me of my blood for that damn crest! But when it came to killing the slavers, you think i hesitated?! When it comes down to killing a man in cold blood, i highly doubt any of you could deal with the guilt! And look at me! I'm perfectly fine!

Yang: No you are not! You told us how awful you felt after killing them even if it was to save others!

Jaune: *punching the wall, leaving a hole* CAN'T YOU SHUT UP!?

Yang: *flinching, then goes to say her piece of mind before stopping, as she sees him cry*

Jaune: *trying to wipe his tears* I CAN'T LET YOU GET HURT DAMN IT! I-I CAN'T PUT ANYONE IN DANGER! I... I WON'T LET ANYONE ELSE LIVE THROUGH WHAT I DID! I... I...*Looking at Yang, tears falling slowly* i can't live with the thoughts of my friends getting hurt or killed...

???: *sigh* And what about us? Aren't we allowed to not see you hurt?

RWBY+J: *turning to the door, seeing the rest of team JNPR*

Pyrrha: *crossing her arms* Imagine how horrible WE would feel if anything happened to you.

Nora: *sniffling* I don't want to see more people go...

Ren: And even less our fearless leader.

Jaune: *sigh* Guys- *get slapped*

Ren: *looking at Jaune in the eyes* You really thought you were the only one who had it rough during the years? I saw my village get destroyed, the few survivors getting either kidnapped or killed. You think i... No, *point to Nora then himself* WE never wanted to avenge them? Nora also has a crest, what do you think we had to do so she wouldn't get caught?

Jaune: ... *Sigh* I just... I just wanted to protect you guys-

Pyrrha: *shaking her head* No, you wanted to die a hero, try redeeming yourself by fighting someone who is far above us in terms of power.

Jaune: ....

Nora: *goes to Jaune, hugging him* Please... Let us help...

Jaune: ... *Look at everyone, then back at Nora* Tsk, way to make me feel bad. Fine! You all win! I won't go get myself killed.

Nora: *hugging him tighter* That's not what we asked...

Jaune: ... *Sigh* Everyone, i need help.

Nora: *now looking up at him, still hugging him* Now we are talking!

[clingyduoapologist]

Dude I do love Genji but like, imagine being Tracer and you haven’t seen that angry emo kid from blackwatch in decades and you’re really just excited to be back together with the old gang and suddenly this motherfucker turns up in a sleeveless hoodie and starts going on about how he traveled the world and really found himself and won’t shut up about how enlightened he is now and to make matters worse he chooses to make his entrance by virtually single handedly 1v1ing a fucking mecha the size of a city block with nothing but a sword and magic. Meanwhile you’re out here trying to step up as a leader, as one of the original members of overwatch and yet EVERYONE is like wow tracer genji is so cool and chill, tracer he’s so wise I’m glad we have genji on the team, omg tracer do you think genji likes me??? like none of them even know that this is the same kid who chopped off two of his own robotic fingers hours after waking up with them while trying to impress his doctor and called you gaycer the entire week you came out to everyone. Like what do you even do in this situation

[our-happygirl500-fan]

When asked about the missing Turtle siblings plot line that had originally been planned for season 3 of Rise it was stated that one of the Turtles missing siblings would have been trapped in another dimension for years while the other would have been Big Mama's Assistant.

While we don't know much about the other missing Turtle sibling the Rise team did tell us that they had been planning to name the two missing Turtle after artists similarly to how the Turtles were named after Renaissance artists & that Big Mama's Assistant could have possibly been named after the painter Frida Kahlo with Frida being the name that was considered for Big Mama's Assistant.

This wouldn't have been the first time a character has been named Frida however as back in 2017 Nickelodeon released a short called 'Teenage Mecha Ninja Turtles' which follows a future version of Mikey’s students who fight crime in Turtle mechs with each one of Master Michelangelo’s students are named after different artists.

There are some similarities between Rise & the Teenage Mecha Ninja Turtles as Frida 'the red Turtle’ is the leader of the team similarly to how Raph was the leader of the team for most of Rise.

Due to how Rise & the Teenage Mecha Ninja Turtles both had 'the red Turtle' as the leader & how they both would have possibly had a character named Frida, part of me wonders if Frida being a possible name for Big Mama's Assistant was possibly inspired by the Teenage Mecha Ninja Turtles & if the other missing Turtle sibling could have possibly be named Kusama after Yayoi Kusama similarly to Frida's team mate from the short.

Considering that we only know a few things about the missing Turtle siblings that the Rise team have told us & we only have the brief appearance of the extra mutation chambers in the episode 'The Evil League of Mutants' as well as Big Mama's Assistant's appearances we can only really speculate about what they would have been like but it is fun to wonder about them.

[lets-try-some-writing]

Cybertronian Civil Warfare

One wrong move. That was all it took to make Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, mad. Now Strongarm and Sideswipe have to deal with the unfortunate consequences of their actions by participating in Optimus's game.

(First chapter of a fic I am writing that will showcase some of the stuff being at war did to Bee and co :3)

━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙ ━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙

No one was entirely sure what thought process led to the current situation, but Strongarm could remember when it started. 

The team had gathered to celebrate what was quickly being dubbed the third liberation of Cybertron when it all began. Strongarm and her team, the Bee Team as they were called, were invited to celebrate with Team Prime in the newly constructed crystal gardens attached to the  restored Hall of Records. Optimus Prime himself had been the one to give out the invitations, and not a spark had refused. Sideswipe had of course made a fuss about having to go to what he assumed was a formal event, but Strongarm had shut him up well enough beforehand.

Meeting Team Prime in a more civil setting was exciting and she had no intention of missing it for the world. But of course, someone had to screw up. And that screw up in turn led to a series of unfortunate and poorly thought out words.

Primus, did they frag up.

“Look, all I am saying is that I don’t get why you all are so high strung all the time.” Sideswipe remarked as he sipped from his cup of high grade. His optics flared a pale blue, a sign of overcharge from too much to drink. A scowl marred his features and Strongarm suppressed the urge to march over and swat him.

“Why is that Sideswipe?” Optimus questioned patiently from where he sat at the head of the table. The others present had largely continued on with their activities, uncaring of the conversation, but Sideswipe could sense the way the others threw their fields wider, subconsciously keeping an optic on the situation.  

“It's pretty bad with Bee. He’s always whining about us using too much energon and he gets angry about us not being up all night long for our patrol despite the fact that we have cameras.” Sideswipe glared at their leader and Strongarm almost burst from the rage pooling in her spark. Did the little glitch have no respect? These were war veterans for Primus’s sake.

“Sideswipe, keep your grievances back at base. We are in a public area-” Bumblebee chimed in, chastation heavy in his tone.  The former scout’s optics cycled in on Sideswipe, a sign of agitation that Strongarm had long learned to notice serving under him. Only Windblade’s firm grasp on her arm kept her from getting up to teach the mech across from her a lesson.

“Bumblebee, let him speak. It is at times like these that such issues should be aired.” Optimus sat perfectly composed in his chair, his attention on the red speedster as Sideswipe grumbled and continued, his words somewhat slurred as he continued.

“You all constantly act like you are better than us. You treat us like newsparks. I’ve been functional for long enough! By old Cybertronian standards I am fully framed!” Sideswipe slammed his cup onto the table as if he were a sparkling and glared at the elder mecha present. Smokescreen stood up abruptly from where he was seated, anger etched onto his features. 

“You are a newspark Sideswipe. I am still considered young even though I was forged during the height of the war.” Smokescreen’s servos were planted firmly on the table, his doorwings twitching as he glared. The Wreckers at the table paused in their activities, their words quieting as they stopped to pay attention. Their stillness swiftly led to the remainder of the table falling silent to observe.

Strongarm couldn’t help the way her plating clamped down around her as the war veterans present seemed to make a shield around themselves with their fields. It was suffocating to endure. 

“That’s exactly my problem! You get treated so much better than us and you don’t act much different!” Sideswipe wasn’t making any sense. His logic wasn’t adding up, and yet his field screamed of outrage. Evidently he had a lot more going on than he could voice. But Strongarm didn’t care to hear it.

“Sideswipe! Don’t be so rude! We are among war veterans and heroes!” Strongarm stood up as well. Her field flared in anger and Smokescreen looked over at her so sharply that she almost felt the urge to sit down. Ratchet slowly began to rise, his servos up in a placating manner as he attempted to speak before being cut off.

“You all fought in a war. So what? I’ve fought Cons and they weren’t even all that bad!” Sideswipe stood proudly despite the fact that he obviously wasn’t thinking straight. Strongarm wished she could sink into the ground as the gazes of the elder mecha present all zoned in on Sideswipe as if he were fresh energon ready for the harvest. She couldn’t tell whose field was whose, but she didn’t need to. All of them were running with an undercurrent of rage, at least those amongst team Prime. Windblade, Drift and his minicons, and Grimlock quickly began to gather beside Strongarm, stepping back from the table as things became more heated.

“Sideswipe, I believe you are not thinking clearly. What you are saying is insinuating a great deal more than I think you intend to convey.” Optimus was still composed ever as the rest of Team Prime slowly began to get up and move. Sideswipe didn’t seem to notice as Bulkhead carefully, and with surprising stealth, pulled the table out of the way in time for the Prime to stand.

This felt practiced, rehearsed almost in a sick way. Strongarm wasn’t sure what to do, what to say even. But she wasn’t given the chance as Bumblebee stepped in front of her and the rest of their team, his gaze surprisingly steely as the situation continued to unfold. 

“Bee, what’s going on?” Grimlock asked hesitantly. The dinobot was not usually one to look so… concerned. It startled Strongarm in a way. He was usually always ready for a fight, even against one like Optimus. Here though? It looked like everyone, including the battle hardened Drift, wanted nothing to do with the situation. 

“Quiet. Optimus will handle this.” There was no room for disagreement in Bumblebee’s voice. He was surprisingly stern. Usually he was loose in his methods of leadership. However as Smokescreen came over and stood at attention right next to Strongarm’s leader, she felt fear begin to gather in her spark.

This was serious, and everyone seemed to know it.

“I mean it all! I don’t get why you all do all this stupid paranoid slag all the time! Always on our afts about our energon usage and lack of combat training or all that other scrap!” Sideswipe’s field was vicious and sharp, but untrained. His didn’t hurt. But those around them? By the Allspark, Strongarm could feel pinpricks running all along her plating from where Bumblebee and Smokescreen practically emanated outrage.

“Sideswipe.” The Prime’s tone had shifted. It was subtle, almost too soft for Strongarm to notice. But her training under Bumblebee had done her good. She wasn’t a spy by any means, or even a special agent. However the few weeks of interrogation training she underwent were having their influence.

Optimus wasn’t happy.

“I don’t want to hear whatever fragging excuses you have, you old bag of bolts! You wouldn’t be held in such high esteem if you just ended the war when it began!” Everyone froze, even Grimlock. Windblade seemed too shaken to speak, her wings dipping so low they almost touched the ground as she stared on in horror. Strongarm was sure she was making a similar expression as Optimus’s expression changed.

He always wore gentle expressions, or at least a soft firmness or strictness. Now though? His optics were startlingly wide, almost as though he were looking at Sideswipe as some sort of prey animal. Optimus’s posture dipped, becoming tenser and his digits twitching ever so slightly. A true predator. 

“Sideswipe, that is enough.” Arcee hissed through gritted denta. The elder femme seemed two kliks away from shredding Sideswipe and appeared to only be kept in place by Bulkhead who glanced down at her in warning. Grimlock was shaking like a leaf and Slipestream and Jetstorm weren’t much better off. They huddled around their carrier unit fearfully and Drift subtly drew his swords, the tension in the air setting him on edge.

Strongarm couldn’t blame him when she found herself palming her pistol on instinct. 

“The Cons we’ve fought have been smallfry. Sure Megaton might have been a piece of work, but you could have ended this easily! But NO, you dragged it all out! Our planet DIED because you and the rest of these plasma helmed glitches didn’t want to put aside your egos and end things!” Strongarm didn’t think things could get worse. Evidently she was wrong. Team Prime were all angry. Even Ratchet seemed to be on the cusp of letting loose what Strongarm could only imagine was a legendary string of curses.

Despite that, Sideswipe must have been absolutely sloshed since he just. Kept. going. 

“Great and mighty Optimus Prime my aft! All you did was make things worse! We wouldn’t have had to deal with all this Primus forsaken fallout if you had just done the right thing in the first place!” There it was. Strongarm could feel it. This was the pinnacle. One more word and things were going to explode.

“Sideswipe. This is the only warning I will give you. Be silent now, or I will need to take disciplinary action on account of you disturbing the peace.” It was a bit of a stretch legally. However it seemed Optimus, and the rest of team Prime for that matter, didn’t care all that much. The tension was heavy. It was too much. 

“Sir, that would be an abuse of power. Sideswipe has the right to free speech. He can technically say what he wants regardless-” Over a dozen optics fell on Strongarm like lasers. She wished she hadn’t spoken, but she couldn’t back down now. 

“What I mean to say is that, uh, Autobot law does not permit…” She trailed off, but the wrath of those present was already on her. Sideswipe didn’t even seem to be aware she was speaking on his behalf. A bitter part of her processors resented that. She was hurting her reputation with Optimus Prime and likely the rest of team Prime just to stick up for him.

“What are you insinuating Strongarm?” She didn’t need to look. Bumblebee’s optics were boring into her with such intensity that if he were to be granted the ability to kill on sight, Strongarm was sure she would be dead by now. Still, no one else spoke up. The team were silent save for their unspoken anger which hummed in the air like a dooming court sentence. 

She floundered, stress prompting her to rehearse what Sideswipe had said. He was saying things that no one was able to, words which should never be spoken aloud. However as she fidgeted with Optimus’s far too wide optics glued to her, she sputtered out a response.

“He makes valid points!” Oh if looks could kill, Strongarm was sure that she and Sideswipe would be dead a thousand times over.

“How so?” The Prime questioned, his tone too smooth and practiced. It was akin to how cashiers and those who worked in customer service would smile and wave even as they internally cursed to the stars and beyond. 

“It’s just… according to the records, the war started because you and Megatron had a disagreement and failed to work it out. Then as the war went on, neither of you were willing to compromise or kill the other…” Smokescreen stepped forward, she could feel his field pressing against her. He felt murderous, so much so she couldn’t bear to look as Optimus tilted his helm ever so slightly in what had to be faux curiosity. 

“And it is also stated that the Decepticons weren’t really all that much of a threat beyond their numbers. The Autobots had superiority throughout a good portion of the war, but it was never used. The Decepticons could have been crushed easily if you look at the tactics and the resources available at the time.” Any other words died on her glossa as Smokescreen’s servo pressed heavily on her shoulder, his face so eerily composed that she genuinely feared for her life. Optimus didn’t so much as twitch as he hummed, his optics cycling ominously.

“So that is what you believe. Is that what the history books say?” Sideswipe had evidently finally begun to sober up a bit as he stepped back. Optimus’s field, which had up until that point been held totally at ease, finally spread out.

It was just a flare, but it dropped Strongarm to a knee as she looked up in horror. Optimus was mad. Her plating rattled and her hydraulics tensed as fear threatened to overwhelm her. Windblade, Drift, his minicons, and Sideswipe didn’t appear to be fending much better when she glanced over at them. 

“You believe our sacrifices were for nothing? That the countless dead were lost in a meaningless conflict? How very amusing.” Strongarm didn’t know Optimus, she didn’t even try to claim she was acquainted with him to any serious degree. But his voice… it wasn’t him. He wasn’t talking like the Prime she knew and served alongside back on Earth. 

However, just as quickly as it came, the tension dissipated like smoke as Optimus straightened his posture, composed himself and turned to exit the garden with only one final declaration. 

“It seems you have much to learn. Return to your base of operations until you receive further orders. I do not wish to see you at this moment or for the foreseeable future.” Then, just like that, Optimus left. Strongarm promptly hunched over and purged whatever she had consumed during the gathering. Sideswipe for his part immediately found himself smacked so hard upside the helm by Bumblebee that she was sure he was seeing stars. Those of team Prime were cold as they quietly gathered their things and left, not another word uttered between them.

Ratchet lingered just long enough to throw a hangover cure at Sideswipe’s face, but beyond that, only Smokescreen stuck around until Bumblebee waved him off. They were fragged. Strongarm could sense it as she was pulled to her pedes and put in with the rest of the Bee team in silence. Bumblebee said nothing as he dragged Sideswipe behind him by his right pede, uncaring of the pained groans of the speedster. 

Windblade and Drift offered their arms to keep Strongarm steady as her tanks churned in nausea and her vision swam. She accepted it without question, not even having the energy to yell at Grimlock as the dinobot all but threw himself through the space bridge back to Earth. 

They had messed up royally. 

━━━━━━━━━━━━

It was to be expected really. All sorts of double patrols, cleaning duty, and plenty of additional training sessions made perfect sense considering how badly both she and Sideswipe had messed up. However the predicted backlash from Optimus never arrived. Strongarm spent months dreading it, even waking up in terror a few times in fear of those far too wide optics zoning in on her. 

Yet, as the months passed, nothing happened. Bumblebee was cold for the first little while, but he settled back into his usual behaviors within a month. Grimlock seemed to forget all about the incident, Drift and Windblade put it behind them, and Sideswipe spent quite a few weeks in a similar state of alertness to Strongarm before he too calmed. Everything went back to normal without any word from Optimus, not even a transmission or a single set of orders. 

Everything… was normal. And somehow that scared Strongarm more than it comforted her. She had never seen Optimus so angry, and from the looks of it, neither had Team Prime, at least not in a very long time. 

Her anxiety grew each passing month, until at last, after around a whole year on Earth, a transmission arrived from Cybertron along with its messenger.

“Hey kiddos! I’ve got a message from Prime for you all! It's addressed to Sideswipe and Strongarm specifically, but I am pretty sure it was intended for your group as a whole.” Jazz, the special operations agent who Strongarm hadn’t seen since they took down the Council, stood before them. He was as cheerful as ever as he handed over a singular holographic disc. Bumblebee took it from him before Strongarm or Sideswipe could do so.

“Did he give any instructions?” Bumblebee questioned simply, suspicion lacing his tone. Jazz shrugged and smiled, his visor glinting in the light as he put his servos on his hips casually.

“Turn it on. Whatever he has to say will probably be on there.” An obvious assumption, but one Strongarm found herself somewhat concerned with as Bumblebee nodded and plugged the disk into the terminal. There was a long harrowing silence in the space as the rest of team Bee gathered around, watching with rapt attention as the screen flickered on.

“Greetings. It has been some time since our last communication.” Optimus’s voice rang out clearly in the space as his face pixelated into being on the screen. He seemed completely at ease as he sat in a chair, a series of datapads at his side.

“In light of your previous statements, I have taken the time to prepare an activity for all of you to participate in. All save for Strongarm and Sideswipe will not be forced to participate if they choose to not engage.” She was already being singled out. Beside her, Strongarm sensed Sideswipe stiffening. This was the other pede finally dropping. Their punishment for speaking out of line.

“Before you bring forward any legal concerns, let it be said before I begin that everything I have prepared is well within my rights. The provisionary council has given me the authority to move your team as I see fit, and all supplies and resources used in the upcoming activity have been funded through my personal efforts and connections.” Optimus sat smugly, or at least that is how it looked to Strongarm as he leaned forward, a little closer to the camera. Fear rattled down her spinal struts as she came to the dark conclusion that the whole year of silence hadn’t been because Optimus forgot. No, she had not been so lucky.

He had been preparing for whatever this was.

“Your involvement is compulsory.” Again, a warning. In the video, Optimus smiled, but it was a sickening thing that left Strongarm’s tanks churning. She reached out to hold Sideswipe’s arm instinctually, seeking the comfort of another as Windblade and Drift came nearer, doing their best to offer silent comradery as the words continued to relay through the audio systems of the terminal. 

“We will be engaging in a real time strategy game made as realistic as possible through my resources. This game will take place in the uninhabited city of Helex in exactly one Earth month. You will have the entirety of that time to prepare.” A grin grew on Optimus’s face, and Primus, Strongarm felt that same churning in her tanks all over again. She wanted to be sick as the Prime tilted his helm, an unnatural ease to his movements.

“You may recruit whoever you see fit. However you may have no more than a hundred units under your control.” Every word was punctuated, almost as if Optimus had long ago rehearsed the lines.

“Any Autobot you can convince to join you is within your rights to recruit. To make things fair, I will not call upon my team or any close allies amongst the Autobots to assist me.” Every movement was far too crisp, practiced even as Optimus held up a datapad showing a map of the city of Helex. 

“Are you putting it together now?” There was a degree of amusement in the Prime’s voice, and looking around, not a spark seemed to like it. Not even Bumblebee. 

“You will have three main objectives which will be given to you a day before the start of the game. I have not selected these objectives. All objectives have been chosen by Elita-One and other neutral parties.” This was real. 

“Complete all three of these objectives, and you will have victory. However in the event that neither faction involved in this conflict completes all of them, the one with the most completed objectives will be victorious.” Strongarm’s hydraulics threatened to falter as Optimus kept talking. Bumblebee held her up by the arm and captured Sideswipe by his neck guard. Their leader was deadly serious as he listened and forced them to endure. 

“Further details will be given to you upon your arrival at the site. In the meantime, prepare for any possibility. This is war, and I have no intention of going easy on you.” Why? Why did it have to be Optimus Prime who they angered?

“Designate a leader and begin recruiting. You will have no resources from the state, so all of your preparations must come from your own sources. My advice is simple. Recruit those with influence.” Optimus smiled again as he leaned forward in his chair, his optics too wide and too threatening.

“I do this not out of malice or bitterness, but instead to make a point.” Not out of malice her aft. There was no way there was not a personal grudge involved for Optimus to put so much effort into this. 

“It is my hope that our game will give you a taste of what our war was like. May you find victory, or failing that, learn a lesson amidst this trial to come. Till all are one.” The video shut down with a dooming whirl and Strongarm struggled to not purge right then and there. What had they gotten into?

“So we are playing that game…” Bumblebee murmured, his optics distant.

“You kiddos made him really mad. Well it wasn’t just you, but you certainly played a part! This will be interesting to watch play out.” Jazz commented with far too much cheer in his tone. Was all of this just a game? Even Bumblebee didn’t seem phased. 

“He can’t seriously be expecting us to do this- this bloodsport!” Sideswipe burst out, breaking the atmosphere.

“I agree. Isn’t this going too far?” Windblade commented carefully. 

“Nope! This is a common game amongst troops, at least during the war. Rion just seems to be taking it to the next level.” Frag it all.

“Then I suppose there is nothing to be done. I shall join this game, if only to give my students additional training.” The minicons under Drift’s command look decidedly unhappy, but Strongarm could only feel a bitter sense of relief. This was really happening.

“We… better get to work.” Strongarm choked out, her vocalizer failing her as the image of Optimus’s grin burned itself into her mind.

What had she gotten herself into?

[lovekabaneri]

Mini Magnus in Mecha AU

A fun idea I had for the TF Mecha AU by @keferon.

So, at least in my version of the storyline, Optimus is still the leader of the bots and Shockwave is a mad scientist on Earth with absolutely no morals and acting like a b-movie villain. So, no plotline with Shockwave and OP being friends BUT I started thinking about other characters and then another idea hit me: What about Ultra Magnus?

The pilot of Ultra Magnus is a dwarf human and the Magnus armor is the biggest and heaviest mech humanity has managed to build. It is even more armed and powerful than Vortex and the pilot is… just this tiny, mustachioed Italian man. It would be quite the shocker for everyone, since Magnus is not stationed in the same base as the main cast and he's mostly protecting Washington and is called only for emergencies.

Ultra Magnus is not only one of the oldest mechs but also considered a legend, since it has been protecting USA for so long and has never fallen in combat. Imagine the marketing team using pictures of Magnus and saying stuff like "The invincible mecha!" or "Ultra Magnus - proof of humanity's infallible spirit!" but never actually shared pictures of UM's pilot. So, naturally everyone imagines a classical American movie hero, a jock with square chin, to be piloting the biggest mech ever. But actually because the mech has become something of a mascot, like Blurr is the face of the pilots, the Ultra Magnus mech is always getting new improvements and is always equipped with the latest heavy weapons the R&D has released, so despite being one of the first mechs UM is actually very modern... and a b!tch to pilot because of all the new stuff they always put in!

They never show the pilot not only not to hurt the image of the "Infallible Mech" by attaching a human face with flaws to it, but because like Vortex, UM has changed several pilots during the years. Not as often as Vortex, mind you, but because of the strain of a single person driving UM, there always are health complications after prolonged use. The first Magnus died after fending off a lot of aliens from Washington on his own and defeated them all, but was brought to the hospital afterwards and died due to the link overloading his brain and causing bleeding. After him, all other pilots lasted around a year, year and half before their worsening health forced them to retire or they up and died! That is... Until 3 years before the "Jazz lost in space" fiasco.

Minimus is a dwarf, his family came from Italy when he was young, around 20 or more years pre-invasion. He though he'd have to work a desk job or take over his father's pottery business, but then the invasion happened and his home was destroyed in the first attack, his mother died. He wanted revenge, since after that his family almost fell apart, but due to his... stature, his enlistment was denied multiple times and eventually became a cook for the Washington base. He got lucky, however, when they were desperate to find new pilot for Magnus and accepted literally any applicant, as long as they were already employed in said base and signed the NDA for UM's secret. He had done both, so he was accepted for the trial runs. Everyone laughed but then that darf, that tiny mustachioed Italian, not only made the UM armor move but his compatibility was the best of the applicants! Obviously, the higher-ups didn't want to let him do it, but eventually relented, since they had no one better and needed a pilot for an upcoming event!

That's how Minimus became the pilot for Magnus mech and has held the position for the longest time(3 years), after the original Magnus (4 years), at least up to the point where Jazz is yeeted through an alien portal.

I imagined the eventual reveal of who pilots UM would be kind of like Minimus' reveal in the comics but with a dwarf human! So, everyone expects some tough guy, then human Minimus pops out of UM like a rat with his gorgeous, bushy moustache and starts scolding everyone about discipline with a deep voice and doing the signature 🤏 Italian hand gesture as he's shouting. Both humans and cybertronians would be shocked!

Just imagine this absolute unit of a mech, even taller than Prime and Vortex, comes with lumbering steps and the pilot is this *tiny* human! The bots thought humans were tiny, then they see Minimus, who is definitely under 150cm and are like "You humans also have Miniboths?!".

[marvology]

Still my GOAT

[binxdoesgaming]

I don't own Mecha Shadow, but aside from that have a funny lil edit I made with all the (available) team leaders. I will infact recreate this in the future once all of them are out.

[brandwhorestarscream]

Reincarnation au

Oh my, Optimus, Prowl and Starscream?! 😂

I'm imagining the constructicons pampering their leader, and, considering that there are multiple sparklings, making little jokes about the "mini-gestalt"

Starscream has a lot of emotions about this, a lot. But he has the rest of the Aerie + Windblade, Wheeljack, Bumblebee to help(they are also discreetly taking precautions after the discovery). Cybertron's News media are going crazy

IDW Optimus is... reacting as well as can be expected of him, Ironhide (who is the only one I remember) by his side and helping as best he can.

The lost light is now setting up a mini daycare, of course megatron is still deciding (and talking to rung and ravange) but the triplets + drif and ratchet sparklings are still a small team

(Which of the triplets is pink and maroon?)

Im just gonna answer these point for point. Please note, singleton pregnancies for non-seeker mecha are the norm for this AU and Rodimus having triplets is an outlier. Everyone else is only expecting one

1. The constructicons certainly try to pamper Prowl, but he is not reciprocal. He's like a feral cat: he'll accept food and attention but if you try to touch him he'll hiss and bite you

2. Starscream kept the cycle under wraps for as long as he could, and he's not at all keen on letting anyone get too close. It takes a lot of pestering (and abusing Sky's warpdrive, let's be honest here) just for his trine to get into his quarters to look after him. Thundercracker lectures him on taking it easy and not working so hard as the carrying cycle progresses, and he + Skywarp have their servos full constantly running after their workaholic trine leader trying to get him to rest lmao

3. Optimus is... God, I don't even know. How would IDW OP react? It's not like he's opposed to having a sparkling, but it just feels too soon. It wasn't planned, and he's kind of overwhelmed by....... Everything. Sparklings are a lot, being a parent is a lot, and he's still got a crazy busy schedule despite not being an active political leader atm. Ironhide threatens to sit on him if he won't allow himself time to rest lmao

4. It takes a hunch of schedule shuffling but with Ultra Magnus on the case there's quickly an airtight schedule for bitty care that guarantees they'll all be supervised by at least 2 responsible adults at all times during the work day. It's a bit of a transition after the mamas finish with maternity leave (Ratchet only takes 2 days off before he's back in the medbay with bitty strapped to his back smh), but they make it work

4.5 Megatron is still having a crisis over his impending parenthood. This can go one of two ways: he's had sparklings before and lost contact with them thanks to the shitshow of Cybertron's system and it's a repressed trauma response, or he has first-time carrier jitters combined with infinite guilt about The War and worrying his sparkling won't be able to have a good life with his name attached to them 🤭

5. Roddy's triplets are G1 ("Pinky"), TFA ("Maroon"), and Cyberverse ("Lil Red"). Mama Rodimus hasn't given them names yet (aka idk what to call them lol) so for now they're just called their colors. Kinda like Nightprowler was dubbed Lil P for the longest time

[catreginae]

Okay, now that I'm home, I can elaborate on the Mecha AU really liked but I don't have time for! As a disclaimer, it's been a long time since I last watched a mecha anime so I don't even know why it's a thought my brain is even entertaining.

Anyway.

Time - the commander/leader of the team. He can pilot a mech and sometimes helps the others but he doesn't go into the field anymore. He really wants to just retire for good but since he's the only one who can pilot the Deity mech, he's kind of stuck there in case the world is ending and he needed to get in the seat.

Twilight - a pilot! His mech can shift between a bipedal mode and a quadrupedal mode. He never planned on piloting but he jumped into one to help his village and he's piloting since. Kind of a natural!

Warriors - another pilot! He's been training a long time to be a pilot so he is really good at it but at the same time, Time keeps an eye on him since a couple of missions have gone horribly wrong and Warriors had to take some mental health breaks.

Legend - semi-retired pilot, works more behind the scenes now as support/a handler. He stays in constant contact with whoever out on missions and makes sure they get everything they need. He likes to say he'll only hop into a mech if the world is ending but he also likes to tinker with mechs so he's sometimes in one to test out new weapons or programs.

Four - the group mechanic. He's either maintaining or repairing the group mechs himself or he directs other teams on what to do. In his down time, he likes making new things for the mechs. He knows all the mechs inside and out except for Deity. I think he once wanted to pilot but he ended up being more interested in the engineering side.

Hyrule - semi-retired pilot, works with Legend with support. He also supports the pilots himself with minor first aid. Unlike Legend, he does want to get back into the field but his mech got infected with a nasty computer virus and Four hasn't finished trouble shooting it (this is my twist on the blood curse). He's happy to help where he can.

Sky - full time pilot! Like Warriors, he trained a long time to be a pilot. His mech is relatively normal but it uses a sword Sky just kind of found and nobody is quite sure how it works, but it does a great job at killing things. Sky's mech is the best at flying.

Wind - the youngest pilot and a lot of people quest if somebody so young should even be a pilot but he's the only who figured out how the pilot the King of Red Lions, which is one of the only mechs that can function in water. He's young and new but shows a lot of potential, so he's on the team.

Wild - a pilot who had to go on medical leave for a long time and he's kind of figuring everything out again. He was severely injured from a previous mission with a different team and suffers from amnesia. Nobody expected him to ever be a pilot again but here he is! His mech was partially made with the recycled parts from his old one.

People are free to run with this if it speaks to you. You're free to change things up too. I don't have time for it but I still think it's kind of fun.