#like I've got this one plotline where [insert character here] is a middleman for a sort of galactic council. essentially a Mercenary lol

[transingthoseformers]

When it comes to the Mercenaries I always have them flee to space because the Decepticons and the Autobots to a lesser degree are not fond of fence-sitters.

When I do Mercenaries I always like to associate them with non Cybertronian races as a sort of middleman, or in general being folks for hire for a variety of things (the fact that they aren't common is directly correlated to how many autobots and decepticons greatly highly disapprove of them, yeahhhh.)

Like

Mecha in the Mercenary faction, imo, always have some benefactor behind them (see: Trypticon in Cyberverse or the Quintesson judge in the Netflix Trilogy) to act as motivator to not join either side. It's easier to play neutral early on, but it gets harder later on unless you're somehow removed from the equation for a while and there's something keeping you neutral.