Thundercracker: Another Way

Ok, fans, here it is- took me over a month to complete, I finally feel like I finished it tonight, and its here for review. I will also be doing a cover for this as well.



THUNDERCRACKER: ANOTHER WAY
“You have got to be kidding me. That pile of rust? My money is on Kunzrite.”

I couldn’t believe it. We were in the pits of Kaon, and here is Sunstorm telling me that this hunk of junk going up against Kunzrite, ruler of the forbidden arena battles, was about to get his rear thrusters kicked in by this relatively unknown mechanism.

“What’s his name again?”

“Ah, Mega….mega……. Megatron, I believe.”

“Well, Megatron is about to get a rude awakening. He will be on the scrap pile in no time.”

And with that, the denizens of Kaon roared as Kunzrite made his grand entrance into the area. He walked in with such prose and power, almost to a fault. You could kind of tell he was a bit full of himself. He had been the champion for many cycles now; it was almost to the point of boredom to watch these matches because you knew that whomever went up against Kunzrite would end up as spare parts in a few breems.

This new bot, Megatron, had been standing in his corner awaiting Kunzrite’s arrival. He had no expression on his face whatsoever, but he stood tall and he owned the metal he stood on. He bore this purple faced insignia on his chest. It was almost impressive if not for the fact he was about to become scrap.

The fight began. Megatron moved in first, giving Kunzrite a few good knocks to the midsection and around the skull. Kunzrite backed off a bit, but you could tell he was about to end the match before it even began. Kunzrite went in for the kill, armed at the wrists with diamond tipped rotors that would cut through Cybertron itself if he so wished. As he thrust his arm forward, Megatron sidestepped, took his arm, and threw him half way across the arena. When Kunzrite got up and realized what happened, the oil started leaking out of his helmet encasing his skull he was getting so mad. He rushed Megatron with speed and brutality, knocking Megatron off his feet. Before Megatron realized what happened, Kunzrite was on top of him, about to end the match.

“See, I told ya, Sunstorm. No one beats Kunzrite.”

And then the unthinkable happened. As Kunzrite was digging into Megatron’s armored chest plate with the diamond tipped rotors on his wrists, Megatron grabbed them. Not his wrists, but the slagging rotors. What fool would do such a thing and still have functional hands?

Megatron, that’s who. Smoke started emitting from the friction caused by Megatron grabbing the rotors full on, but the smoke wasn’t coming from any scarring of the hands on Megatron; it was coming from Kunzrite’s entire arm lengths. Kunzrite was overheating. The internal sensors in his arms had completely blown out, and the energon coursing through the arms had become so unstable that it was catching fire. Megatron slowly rose from being pinned to standing full face to Kunzrite. This was the first and only time Kunzrite ever had a worried look on his face. Then his arms started to completely melt from the fire and primary overload of his circuits, all the while Megatron still holding onto these “invincible” rotors. Kunzrite’s arms blew off. Megatron finally let go of the motionless arms in his hands, threw the scraps onto the ground, and gave Kunzrite a swift kick to the solar plexis.

The arena announcer made the statement I never thought I would hear. Kunzrite was beaten. And this new bot, Megatron, was now champion. The announcer came down from his podium to crown Megatron champion. Megatron accepted the crown, then took the announcer and broke him in two. In all my cycles of viewing the arena matches, I had never seen anyone do that. Not anyone. But the best was yet to come; Megatron walked back to the corner he started out in, and pulled out this long black cannon from out of the shadows. He attached it to his right arm, then walked over to the armless Kunzrite, who was still operational but obviously in a bit of distress.

“No one beats Megatron. NO ONE.”

And with that, his fusion cannon charged up to a glowing red, emitted a powerful boom, and took Kunzrite’s head clear off. The audience was either in shock or awe; there was a dead silence that held the room, as if what they just witnessed had been mass murder. The silence was broken only by Megatron.

“A new age is dawning! Stand by me or against me!”

That being said, Megatron made his exit. The crowd dispersed and went their ways, knowing that what they just witnessed was the beginning of something powerful, something totally unlike anything they knew, and I knew it too.

“Let’s go grab some oil before the Quint realizes we are off course while on duty,” I said.

I gave Sunstorm the 5 energon chips I bet on Kunzrite and we headed to Maccadams for a brew.



As we flew to Maccadams, I tried to comprehend what I just witnessed. It wasn’t about one individual transformer, but it was about our race as a whole. We were on the verge of a significant breakthrough for our species. The Quintesson rule had basically run its course, and we all knew it. We were starting to grow, to comprehend differences not only in the minute, but in the grand scheme of existence as we knew it. It wasn’t an easy road, either. There were very few bots left over from the dawn of our race; most of them hid in seclusion when the Quintessons invaded Cybertron and basically reprogrammed the whole lot of us, but there was still the air of knowing we were destined for something better, something more profound than what we were now.

To the best of my knowledge, I had been created in a long line of Aerial Transport Modules. The ATM’s were somewhere between the consumer goods line and Warfare lines; all of us produced by the Quintessons. They basically swept into Cybertron, found raw material, and made it their own. Dishonorable at best, but that was typical Quintesson fashion. The ATM’s basically transported all kinds of goods between the two lines. We were armed with light cannons, only for the emergency situation that we rarely encountered. There were many of us. We were given numbers as identification by the Quints, but among our own, we had names. There was myself and Sunstorm, Skywarp, Starscream, Ramjet, Dirge, Thrust, etc and so on. There were also clones of us that looked identical to our markings, but they lacked the cognitive ability to think and behave on their own. The Quints basically controlled them remotely. When the Quints gave us the cognitive ability to recognize our own individuality, they ultimately sealed their own caskets. Unbeknownst to them, though, was that we had taken our individuality farther then they could ever imagine, but it was our secret society that kept them in the dark. Don’t get me wrong, they still had plenty of control over us and could snap us back to clone status in no time if they felt the need just.

In our little secret society, we were developing our own individualistic characteristics of persona and weaponry. A few cycles ago, I had some spare time between shifts, and I did a little research on our Enslavers. The Quintessons themselves are weak, but have great tactical wisdom and ability. To make up for their physical weaknesses, they have enforcers- the sharkticons. What vicious beasts those things were. They could rip you apart in less than a breem. Generally, if you kept your distance, did your job, and didn’t stray too much, they wouldn’t bother you. So the trick was getting the quints by themselves when the sharkticons weren’t in earshot. One little detail I found out was that the Quint’s auditory receptors were incredibly sensitive. I tried figuring out a way to use that to my advantage. If one could generate some kind of debilitating shockwave to destabilize the sensitive receptors, it would knock them off kilter. They would lose balance, creating an unstable graviton field, which keeps them afloat. Then it would be the time to strike.

So I created my own little special weaponry- the sonic boom.

After fooling around with the small time weaponry the Quints installed in all of the ATM’s, I secretly tried it out on a lone Quint who was awaiting transport to some other world they were about to take over. His transport was late, so I hid in the shadows of the great Cybertronian buildings and stunned him right there. My prediction was correct- He lost gravity, his audio receptors overloaded and he basically blew a fuse. I didn’t stick around to find out what became of him- I had to jet fast and quietly so not to be caught. I’m sure the Quint was in the repair bay for quite some time, trying to figure out just what the slag happened to him.

Each of the ATM’s were developing personalities and distinctiveness by this point. We actually had been doing so for some time, but it had to be kept in check when we were on duty. In our secret little society, Starscream had appointed himself to be the focal point of the group. He was one tricky bugger, and distrustful as far as you could throw him, but he had the one thing that most of us were lacking: drive. He was driven to succeed no matter what the cost or what level he must stoop to, and man, did he ever have a mean streak. A few cycles ago, he was on duty transporting cargo to an outer planet and he had to slightly deviate off course due to a meteor shower that suddenly hit him. Well, he made the delivery, but when he got back, he was a few breems late, so the Quintesson in charge of the shift at the time gave him a severe lashing with the energo whip. Starscream was in such pain that you swear you could see oil leaking out of his visual receptors. After the Quint threw him in the repair bay (and I do mean “throw” by way of sharkticon brutality) Starscream healed, and he was off shift for a few thousand breems. When he returned, he went back to duty per usual. Nothing seemed different about him. The shift supervisor that gave him the beating was suddenly called away off planet to negotiate some trade agreements regarding some of the military applications the Quints had been developing here on Cybertron. The shift super boarded his vessel, and was about 1/3rd of the way to the negotiations when the vessel completely exploded for no apparent reason.

When the Quints sent some of their more elite crew to salvage the wreckage, they brought it all back to Cybertron and realized that a rather powerful bomb had been placed in the core reactor of the ship. The activator sent a nullifying ray throughout all the onboard systems rendering them completely inoperable, while the bomb that was full of unstable energon detonated roughly 10 seconds later. They never traced it back to the source. After a few brews at Maccadams one cycle later, Starscream and a few others, including me, went back to shift. Starscream headed to his personal quarters, and the rest of us just went back on shift, but then I had forgotten that I owed Starscream a few energon chips for a bet that I lost to him at the arena battles. I followed him back to his quarters, and actually entered his science lab. What I found on his diagnostic imaging table left no doubt in my mind- the complete plans and schematics for a null bomb with energon explosive attachment. I had tumbled upon this quite by accident, and turned around to leave when Starscream was just standing there at his lab entrance, glaring at me.

“We are not slaves to be beaten at the whim of these five-faced slagheads. We are destined for something better, and I am going to lead us there,” he said, in the most gravely voice I have ever heard him speak in.

He permanently erased all his plans and schematics, although I’m sure they all reside somewhere in that twisted head of his. Never turn your back on Starscream.


So Sunstorm and I arrived at Maccadams, eager for some brew. Nothing like drinking your arena losses away. The typical crowd were already there; most of the ATM’s, a few of the consumer goods line like Kup and Ironhide. There was even a female transformer in the room we nicknamed “Ole’ Ticker”, whom we believed was very close with the Maccadam himself, a bot rarely seen but emitted a powerful presence. The Consumer Goods Bots generally didn’t take in to the arena battles, but they had plenty of stories to tell about their own dealings with their Quint Masters. The bar lackey, Orion Paxx, was there too. He was a good kid who meant well, but you could kind of tell he just didn’t fit in with the rest of us. He had a different calling in his existence, however, I don’t believe he realized that himself yet. In any event, he provided good service and I tipped him accordingly. If I had only known who he was going to turn into, I would have destroyed him right there on the spot. But that was the old style of thinking. Times change.

I sat down with Skywarp for a bit. ‘Warp was probably the bot I was closest to out of our group. He was totally dumb as rocks, but for some reason, I just admired his spark. For all his viciousness (which I don’t even think he was aware of) he did have a tendency to get “lost” in the shuffle of things, and I kind of took it upon myself to be his big bot brother. We would often just hang out together, sometimes using those black market enhancers that an off-worlder left us once after a successful trade negotiation with the Quintessons (of course, the Quints didn’t realize we had one, or else we would be on the scrap pile for neglecting protocol). ‘Warp was the only one I would enhance with because he was the only one I truly trusted out of the lot of us. The enhancer was designed for single use, but I managed to install an additional receptor in the one unit I had, which brought me and ‘Warp together, stimulating the pleasure centers of our sparks simultaneously. We generally kept our dalliances with the enhancer to ourselves. The others weren’t on a “need to know” basis anyways.

“Where were you? Didn’t see you down at the arena.”

“I was there, but I arrived late and all the good seats were taken, so I just kinda stood at the back and watched. Didn’t miss a thing, though. That Megatron bot is one mean dude,” he said.

“With all the attention he brought upon himself, it would be a wonder that the Quints didn’t already have Sharkticon search parties after him.” But even as I said that, I knew one thing: I would pity any sharkticon that was dumb enough to tangle with Megatron.

“Did you hear about our rendezvous at 0900 in the Badlands?” Skywarp asked me.

“No, what’s this about now? Another of Starscream’s longwinded, self appreciative speeches?”

“Not this time. Someone else is going to speak for a change.”

“Who?”

“Not sure, but whoever it is, I heard the guy has an interesting proposition for us. We won’t be the only ones there, either. Bots from all over Cybertron will be attending.”

“Alright. I will meet you there. I gotta head back for the rest of my shift.”

“See ya then.” And with that, I was off.



In retrospect, this was the meeting that changed not only my existence, but that of every being on Cybertron, including the Quints. Prior to arrival, I headed back to my shift. It was the typical and mundane as always; load this, bring that, fly here, drop off there…..it never ended. After a few thousand cycles, one tended to get bored with the monotonous and the mundane. I arrived half a breem late, and the Quint docked my energon recharge time as punishment. Little did he or I know that this would be the last time he and I ever met under this arrangement.

I met all the others there. When I entered this rather dark underground room, there was a rather disturbing feeling all over the place. And all along the walls, there was this pointed face in purple enscribed everywhere, just like the one that was on Megatron. At first, I thought this was a joke because the halls were completely empty and devoid of any activity whatsoever. After hiking it lower and lower into the bowels of Cybertron, I was just about to give up and head back when this little red bot approached me.

“Hey, you’re with the ATM group, right? Head this way.”

At first I thought he was a joke, but for amusement’s sake, I followed him. He led me to this large door that had some major security locks on it- my visual acuity scanner picked up on all the infrared signals being shot back and forth. This little guy inserted a special security chip, and the door opened. What I saw next nearly skyrocketed me to another dimension- it was a slaggin pantheon of bots. There literally had to be thousands of bots all over. It was actually very reminiscent of the arena I had just been at. To conceal such a place had to be very difficult in light of the Sharkticon Patrol Squads that were constantly doing scanning all over the face of the planet for anything unusual. I certainly think this qualified as the unusual. At the very end of this pantheon directly opposite from the entrance I came in was the podium where I would finally meet our mystery speaker. It was a grand podium; that face that had been inscribed all over the tunnels made up the base of it. The face itself had to be a good 25 to 30 feet high, and just as wide.

I took a few steps into this vast space, trying to figure out how in the name of The Fallen I would find the rest of the ATM crew. Thankfully, they found me. Skywarp jetted over to lead me to the section of this pantheon where the crew was already sitting. Apparently, there had been a section specifically saved for us. Of course, Starscream was in the most forward seating position, taking his leading stance to his head again. I followed ‘Warp across the arena ground and promptly took a seat. We chatted for a half a breem when the lighting dimmed somewhat. The crowd, which was already at an obnoxious volume level, piped down a bit, but I guess that wasn’t enough. Two figures silhouetted by shadows appeared on the podium. One center, One to the right. The bot on the right emitted this sonic blast throughout the sounds system of the entire pantheon that literally disrupted the auditory sensors of the entire audience. It only lasted a microsecond, but felt like 1000 breems of agony. The crowd abruptly silenced themselves.

“You are here because I willed it so. You are the chosen few that have shown Cybertron you are willing to break out of the chains that the Quintessons have placed not only on your bodies, but your minds as well. You are better than that. You are stronger that that. All you need is one to bring out the finest qualities in you. I am that one.”

If the sonic boom didn’t blow my mind, then our mystery speaker’s revealed identity surely would have. He stepped out of the shadows in the prime spotlight, commanding in his voice and posture. He commanded the entire audience as well. It was Megatron.

“A new age of Cybertron is dawning, fellow transformers. The Quintessons’ stay on our home planet will be short lived, I can guarantee it. No longer will we be slaves to a race of beings! We will be the masters! I will lead us to utmost victory!”

“You speak well, robot. But that is all you do- speak. Where is your proof?” asked Starscream. Only he would have the arrogance to interrupt such a mighty robot in such an ignorant way.

“Proof? You want proof? Very well.”

The arena floor that was empty up to this point started filling with warfare drones. Not just a few, but thousands. There was a drone for every transformer in the audience. They marched out into the arena in perfect semblance. Row upon row, lines upon lines of these drones. Upon further inspection, these weren’t the typical warfare drones that the Quints produced. They had been severely modified with some major firepower at their disposal, and they all bore that strange, purple face, just like the podium. As the drones filled the arena, they stopped, and then parted from the middle out, as if they were the embodiment of the deep cracks of the Sonic Canyons. Since we were all focused on the drones, we failed to notice that Megatron disappeared. In his absence, Starscream chose to belt out another insult.

“Leader? Where are you, mighty leader? You disappear to show us drones?”

No sooner did the words leave his mouth than Megatron entered the arena from the base of the podium, but he was not alone. He dragged the bodies of 5 still functional Quintessons behind him unmercifully tethering at their tentacles. As he entered the middle of the arena floor, the bots in the audience just watched on in astonishment, including myself. Taking down one or two Quints at random intervals was one thing, but this guy had just grabbed 5 and dragged them out, as if they were playthings. When Megatron got to the middle, he simply dropped the 5 Quints where they were. The Quints were screaming for help; their faces twirling around and around in a disturbing fashion as if they were possessed by some inner demon.

“Watch closely, Starscream. This is what I do to those who question my purpose.”

Megatron transformed into a supped up war tank, obviously years ahead in design compared to what the Quints manufactured. He charged his main cannon, and picked off each Quint, totally obliterating not only their physical bodies, but their entire existence as well. For once, Starscream actually shut up.

“I am Megatron, leader of a new faction of Transformers- we are known as the Decepticons, and we shall rule Cybertron, eliminating all who oppose us! Stand by me or stand against me, but you will know my name!”

The crowd went deadly quiet. After what seemed like a moment of contemplation shared by thousands, the audience, including myself erupted in chant.

“HAIL MEGATRON, LEADER OF THE DECEPTICONS.”

This was the beginning of a new life for me; a new destiny. I had found a higher purpose, or at least so I thought. In this one evening, I was about to embark on a new journey; one that would be colorful, hard, enlightening at times, and I would learn to know the epitome of death and destruction.

When the entire ATM crew returned to our duties in the Kaon sector, there was something different about us; like a spirit had awoken in mass grouping, but also touching us individually. We still had to play pawn for the Quints, but it was like the slaves were now becoming the masters. When I returned to my shift, I looked at my Quintesson commander with different optics- he was about to become a memory in the New Order of the Decepticons, he just didn’t know it.

A few cycles later, Megatron had sent word by messenger, that little red robot whom we now knew as Rumble, that he wanted to meet with the ATM team exclusively. There would be a time and a place, designated by him, for this meeting, and it was of the utmost importance. Rumble of course directly relayed this message to only Starscream, since Starscream was to be our group commander. I personally didn’t fancy the idea of having that loudmouth speak for me, but somehow, I just knew Megatron wouldn’t take his slag.

On the cycle of this meeting, not all of us ATMs were able to attend. It was just three of us- Me, ‘Warp, and Starscream. All the others still had shift to do, so we kind of figured it would be rather awkward and certainly strange enough to take action if the Quints discovered all of us missing. Fortunately, the three of us were all off shift, and the Quints generally didn’t care what one bot did off shift, but don’t think for a moment that we had any kind of freedom- We definitely had 5 sets of eyes on us each, but those eyes were more concerned with production numbers and transport couriering than having a drink down at Maccadams.

When we arrived, we were guided by Rumble back to the Arena where Megatron had made his first declaration of power, but instead of the arena itself, we all met in a much smaller room off the main arena ground. Megatron was already sitting there waiting for us, as was this blue bot who had emitted the sonic screeching to silence us at the arena. This bot’s name was Soundwave, and he was master of reconnaissance, spying, and general warfare. Come to find out, that little guy Rumble was one of his minions along with Frenzy, a feline named Ravage, and two avian spymasters, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw. Laserbeak was firmly perched on Megatron’s left shoulder, as was Buzzsaw on Soundwave’s shoulder.

“Greetings and welcome, ATM’s. I am fortunate that you could join me here at such late notice, but as you will see, there will be many times where we simply cannot communicate outright with each other, and it will have to be done at a moment’s notice in the utmost secrecy. I called you here as a gesture of thanks for attending the meeting we had previously, and I wish to make you an offer.”

‘Warp was about to say something when he was immediately cut off by Starscream, which was nothing surprising.”

“Mighty Megatron, I, Starscream, leader of the ATM’s, wish to extend our appreciation for this late invite. We are very interested in what you have to offer, providing of course, it is in our best interest.”

“Oh, I think you have nothing to fear from me, Starscream. I can see you are a shrewd leader with the guts to take the reigns on any situation.”

If I didn’t know better, I would say that Megatron was playing Starscream big time.

“My offer is this- I am amassing a large army to overthrow the Quintessons, and I will need all the transformers I can get to accomplish this task. Since the ATM’s have the uniqueness of being designed for air travel, the tactical advantage they could provide would be immensely powerful and strategically greater than any opposition the Quintessons might offer. In return, you will have all the Energon you could possibly desire, and you will be in a high ranking class in the Decepticon Legions.”

“NO ONE orders the ATM’s around except me, Megatron. I am their rightful ruler, and it will be my choice as to whether or not our group joins the Decepticons.”

“As you wish, Starscream, but remember- this offer is for NOW. I do not have time to waste energon on the maniacal rantings of lunatics who can’t make decisions in haste!”

If there ever was a clear sign that Megatron thought of Starscream as a joke, then this definitely had to be the sign.

“Very well, mighty Megatron.” Starscream began to answer him, but you could tell he was under a bit of pressure and didn’t have all of the necessary skills to lead. “The ATM’s accept your proposal on one condition- I will be regarded as leader and make all corresponding decisions regarding our involvement in your new regime.”

Megatron had him right where he wanted him. “Excellent, Starscream, excellent. I knew you were wise to accept my offer. As of this moment, the ATM’s will be known as the Decepticon Seekers. Gone are the chains that the Quintessons held you down with, for now, you are free and your power will be immense. We still must act in secrecy, though- there is much planning to do. For now, I suggest you return to your duty shifts and await my next summoning.”

And with that, we were off. Rumble showed us the way out, but the three of us left by different routes, as to not be traced to any one particular establishment. Since we still had many breems left on our breaks, we met back at Maccadams to reflect on what just transpired.”

“You know, Starscream, that you are pushing the wrong bot when it comes to Megatron. He could flatten you in an instant,” I said.

“Yeah, that guy is one powerful bot. Crush you like a Cybertronian Flea,” ‘Warp added.

“I did not ask for your opinions! Obviously, Megatron’s need for us is great, otherwise he would not have made the offer he did. We might be providing strategical advantage for him, but I would say it is us who have the advantage. This is an offer we cannot refuse. And as far as Megatron is concerned, his over confidence in himself is his weakness, one I plan to exploit.”

And there began the private war between Starscream and Megatron that would last for millions of years. Both of them vying for control of the Decepticon Legions with Starscream always being beaten out. Fact of the matter was, he just didn’t have the power, the guts, or the stamina to lead anyone, and that is why he would always fail.

“Fine, Starscream, fine. I’m just in it for the Energon.” Both me and ‘Warp agreed.

“And Energon you shall have, if Megatron is true to his word.”

With that, we paid Orion the tab, then headed back to duty shift. As the other two were transforming, I noticed someone I had never seen before.

“I’ll catch up with you guys in a few breems. I forgot to pay up on my own little tab.”

They took off, and I followed this individual I saw back into the bar. This was like no other transformer I had ever seen- it was a female. Female transformers were much like a microneedle in a spare parts stack- they were rare, often recluse, and when you saw one, you definitely turned your head, as did all the male patrons at Maccadams when she entered. For whatever reason, I couldn’t bring my vocal processors online to engage in an actual conversation; I was in awe of what I was seeing. The awe was like that of the effects the enhancer gave us, without the actual enhancer. She was colored in a stunning violet, the curvature of her body seamlessly flowed together, with not a spot wanting. And she had a gun. A very large gun. It was holstered at her right side. It looked to me like an off-world design, definitely not of Quintesson origin.

She approached the bar and ordered a drink. I was still standing there dumbfounded as she turned her head, and instantly caught my gazing. Without a word, she brought a smile to her face. I started fumbling for gravity; it was as if my inner skeletal system was malfunctioning. Embarrassed, I immediately left to join the others, but for the next few cycles, she was all I could process in my transistors.

When I got back, I went to my living quarters first before returning to shift, and there was a gift waiting for me on the table- a decepticon insignia. There was also a recording to it- “Welcome to the Decepticon Ranks, Thundercracker- do not place this on yourself until you hear from me. Megatron Out.” The recording self-destructed, and I threw it in a drawer. Fallen Forbid the Quintessons should ever find it. I would be melted to liquid for it.

The next few thousand cycles were of hit and run attacks, fully coordinated by Megatron himself. We met back at the Kaon underground base to plan out each night’s hit on the Quintessons. The attacks on the Quints were done in complete secrecy and deception; it was not all out war yet. On the eve of our first attack, Megatron had grouped me, ‘Warp, and Sunstorm together to take down a group of Quints who were outbound off planet. These particular Quints were due for trade negotiations on Lynark and Zytoxis, two opposing planets who were in the air of profit for our weapons. The Quints were marching single file to their ship, with a few Sharkticon guards following. One by one, each of us would swoop in, grab a sharkticon, bring him into the shadows, and disembowel him with our lasers before he could cry out to warn the others. It came to the point where there was only one Sharkticon guard left with the 3 Quintessons; At this point, the three of us converged on the entire group in one fell swoop. ‘Warp took on the first Quint; he grabbed him by the energo tendrils and plummeted the guy into the ground a good 10 or 15 times, each face getting its own smash. One thing about ‘Warp- he wasn’t the smartest bot in the world, but man, when he put his mind to it, he could dish you some major damage. Personally, I think Megatron realized this too, and made up for “Warp’s stupidity by providing direction and leadership by displaying strength and courage- two things Starscream really didn’t have.

I blasted the second Quint with my sonic boom, and while he was totally disrupted, I planted a high yield charge on his death face and took a few steps back. He exploded into a million little pieces right before my eyes. Sunstorm had taken care of the remaining Sharkticon, then went in for the kill on the third Quint. Sunstorm could emit a specially high light beam which could render the optical nerves inoperable for a long period of time. As he blinded the third Quint, ‘Warp and I blasted him with our lasers to bits. Our first job as Decepticons had been a success. We flew back to HeadQuarters.

On the way there, I thought about the events that had just transpired. It was a rush of control and destruction, and I totally loved it. With each blast, I was one step closer to my own freedom and mastering the power of my own destructible capabilities. I was proud. I knew there was a long road ahead, and that nothing happened instantly in terms of our freedom, but there was the instant satisfaction of revenge and retribution- something that was new and powerful; intoxicating to the fullest. I thought about ‘Warp- man, he was one tough bot, and throughout the whole ordeal, there was one thing I was completely sure of- we had each other’s backs. It was a brotherhood among the newly christened Seekers. Perhaps the only one who really didn’t share in the brotherhood was Starscream, since he was too concerned with his own quest for power and could probably care less about the others, but I did believe that, if it was in his best interest, he would side with the Seekers rather than any of the other smaller factions in the Decepticon armada if push came to shove.

We got back to Decepticon headquarters, where a huge stack of fresh energon cubes was waiting for us. Megatron gave us congradulations and verbally assured us of our rank in the growing armada. One thing I respected about Megatron was that he wasn’t content to just speak- he provided action to back his words. While he moonlighted as the new undefeated champion in the forbidden arena battles, he spent his non-combative time taking out key Quintesson bases all over Cybertron. Generally, Soundwave accompanied him with his own little army, but Megatron could hold his own- no doubt about that. I actually pitied the Quintesson who was on the receiving end of his ion cannon. Megatron had no mercy; he was as ruthless and powerful as those he destroyed, the only difference being that he was fighting on the side of our civilization, not against another’s.

Obviously, our attacks on the Quintessons were not going without notice- security had been beefed up around key bases, and the Quints were genuinely scared of this unseen enemy that continually had the upper hand. Security searches around our quarters were growing stronger, too- the seekers moved most of their personal belongings to the underground Kaon base. Nightly lockdown was becoming even more disturbing- it was getting harder and harder to keep sneaking out of the ATM base to contact the Decepticons. Things were becoming more covert than ever, even in the simple act of joining ‘Warp for our usual enhancer nights, but even in that regard, we still kept it secret even from the other Seekers, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.

For many cycles, the hit and run tactics of our opposition were working quite well; the only downside was that, with every attack, the Quints beefed up their security a little more each time. For the most part, it was all running quite smoothly, too.

Until the day they caught me.

I had just come back from a hit and run attack with ‘Warp, and we both had a breem left on our break, so we figured we would go clean up before going back on shift. I went to my quarters and the lights were out. Funny, I thought, I had left them on prior to me leaving. I called the overhead intercom to turn them on, and sitting there waiting for me was my Quint super with two sharkticon guards. I got kicked in the thrusters immediately, I fell to the ground, and ended up with a sharkticon foot on my back.

“ATM-23, would you care to explain these?” In one hand, he held 2 cassettes (one blue, one red, both with the Decepticon insignia on it); in the other hand he had one of my modified blasters that had scorch marks all over it; there was also a leftover piece of energo tendril that had melted itself to the blaster barrel during the heat of combat in the last raid. I honesty did not know what those cassettes were; they could have been taped images of me on a raid, which was a death sentence for sure. I could not form words to answer his question; the sharkticon had basically reset my vocal processor which would take ¾ of a breem to come back online.

“No answer, 23? Do you have no plea for this court?” He switched around his head to the Judgement face and asked, “Have we reached a verdict?” then switched back to the death face and answered “Guilty. Punishment is Death.” The sharkticons both transformed into their beast modes and were about to devour me. It was then that the two mysterious cassettes jettisoned themselves out of the Quint’s tendril and transformed into Rumble and Frenzy, part of Soundwave’s team. If this was the best protection Megatron could offer me, I was dead for sure.

“If you wish to tumble, do it with the best- Rumble!” Rumble activated his arms into pile drivers and damn near shook the entire building to the ground. He managed to knock the sharkticons off balance, and this is when I got up and backed off to try and heal my wounds. Frenzy let out a burst of disintegrating rays from his two bicep-mounted cannons, which sizzled the sharkticons instantly. One of them did manage to get up after a few microseconds, but I kicked him back down, and Frenzy finished him off entirely. There was nothing left but smoldering carcasses on the floor. During this time, the Quint tried to make an easy escape, and he almost got away, if it weren’t for ‘Warp, who basically caught him on his way out the back door and pummeled him right there. Like I said, the guy may be dumb, but he’s not one to get angry. Frenzy and Rumble joined the melee; Rumble threw himself on top of the Quint’s revolving heads and pile drived them right into the titanium flooring until they were completely flat.

“I guess we won’t have to worry about that Quint anymore,” ‘Warp said. Big, dumb, stupid bot. I thank Primus for having him in my life.

The three of them came back to aid me as I was still on the floor, tending to my wounds. They picked me up, and we were on our way out the door when Starscream appeared.

“You better get the rest of the seeker crew out of here. When the rest of the Quints figure out what just happened, you will all be melted to scrap. From now on, you will reside at the Kaon headquarters. Megatron has already furnished quarters for the entire seeker crew.”

“Very well, Rumble. I will gather the seeker team and lead them to Kaon.”

“See you there.”

Warp transformed and Rumble and Frenzy hauled me into his cargo hold. We were off to our new home.



When we arrived, I was still pretty banged up. Warp escorted me to the sick bay where the resident surgeon, Kryos, immediately went to work on me. He fixed my vocal processor, realigned my thrusters, and gave me a heaping amount of energon to feed on. As he was finishing up his work, Megatron walked in.

“Thundercracker, I am pleased you made it out of your predicament in one piece. I assure you Kryos is the best repair surgeon this side of Alpha Trion. He had intimate knowledge of Decepticon Circuitry and the best parts available at his disposal.”

“Thank you, Megatron. If it weren’t for your two little friends there, I would be in the digestive tract of a Sharkticon right now.”

“Hey, who you callin little?” Frenzy spoke up.

“You, my new little buddy. I owe you thanks as well.”

“Comradery is a key factor in the success of the Decepticon Armada, Thundercracker. A factor I can see you respect and possess. Too bad your friend Starscream doesn’t share the same traits,” Megatron said.

I simply grunted a smile since I really didn’t know how to answer that. Starscream was technically my commanding officer, and this being so new and all, I didn’t want to create waves so early on. Megatron was about to leave, but he suddenly turned around.

“Oh, and Kryos, please add this insignia to Thundercracker’s outer hull. He is officially a Decepticon now.”

If there ever was one defining moment of who I am, what I was about, this was one of the two. I’ll tell you about the other one later. This was it- I was now part of a team, part of a bigger whole, with purpose and destiny. The Decepticons were destined to usher in a new era of order on Cybertron. It would be a new world, a new civilization. And I would be at the forefront of it.

The next few thousand breems were not of war, but of many redesigns and upgrades on the entire Seeker Crew. For myself, it was a glorious time; we were preparing for all out war, and making ourselves the utmost in warfare. Kryos was instrumental in this operation- he had taken my initial concept of the sonic boom and transferred it from hand blaster into shoulder mounted laser cannons that would remain operational during both modes of transformation. The accuracy of these new cannons was scary- I tried them out at a test range and managed to hit a target right on the mark from 30km away. Kryos also upped the amperage of the sonic boom to be heard 200 miles away; definitely an improvement. In my alternate road, he replaced my standard thrusters with super sonic specialties- these were top of the line, even for a warrior. I could now fly up to speeds of 1500mph. My upgrades were almost frightening they were so immense in power. I had a new goal in my own existence: master the power of these weapons and spread my might throughout the galaxy.

The other seekers went through their own upgrades too- ‘Warp now had the ability to basically open short wave transdimensional portals in the rift of space and time, which rendered him even more covert than before. You could be fighting him once second, he’s gone the next, and then you are scrap because you didn’t see him re-emerge out of the rift behind you. During the breems of our upgrades, we would often check each other’s new enhancements out. ‘Warp of course had to play around a bit, especially with me. I could be in my quarters intently focusing on the latest battle specs Megatron had handed out, and when I would turn around, there he was 6 inches away from me. It drove me up a wall and I didn’t mind letting him know that either by producing a mini sonic boom that would knock him off kitler for a few seconds. Of course, after all the games, we would shut the door and charge up the enhancer.

Starscream opted to not have Kryos do his upgrades; since he was well versed in scientific research, he basically designed his own side arm blasters with the help of some other bot……..I think his name was Skyfire or Jetfire, I never could remember. Since Starscream generally kept to himself, his private life was very secretive. I knew he spent a lot of time with that “whatever” –Fire guy he hung out with, and I truly believe he was the only transformer in the world to claim the title of Starscream’s “friend”. To the best of my knowledge, they connected on the scientific theory platform, something the rest of us weren’t really versed in. Out of their mutual scientific calculations, they developed Starscream’s null ray. This new invention literally disrupted a bot’s entire energy flow. Being the cruel, ruthless bot he was, he tried it out on Ramjet, who was in Kryos’ repair bay for many a cycle to fix the damage. When Megatron heard of Starscream’s test subject, he immediately sought him out and from what I hear, there was a closed door on the outside with a lot of screaming going on in the inside. Megatron came out smiling. We didn’t hear from Starscream for a few breems.

As our modifications were nearing completion, Megatron was preparing for the first all out assault in the Kaon Sector. Generally speaking, the Quints were sparsely populated in Kaon, and most of the covert hits we did were in the Kaon Sector along with a few other places like Iacon and what not. The other non-Kaon hits were more designed to keep the Quints off balance so they couldn’t localize us to one area.

The Decepticon army had grown as well; there were several new faces in Headquarters every day. With new factions came new distinctions, even though we all wore the one Decepticon insignia. Megatron had enlisted the aid of a consumer model team that was formally in charge of building new structures all over the face of Cybertron. They were also key in the protection of said structures to a smaller degree; most of the protection was handled by the lead of the Guardian Robots, Omega Supreme. I had heard through the whispers at Maccadams that Megatron was a tad forceful in his recruitment of these new builders who were christened the Constructicons, and that Omega Supreme was not exactly complacent about the whole ordeal. Regardless of what the situation is, the last thing I wanted to do was get involved with a Guardian- they were massive, destructive, and they had absolutely no problem crushing you like a Cybertronian Flea. The Quints were wise in their design with the Guardians- if the sharkticons couldn’t do the job, then the Guardians could.

The Constructicons were also significant in the fact that they were the first of the combiner team theory- on we would later build upon when we had our short stay on Earth. The six of them formed one giant robot named Devastator, who was pretty much our only defense against the Guardians. The only problem with him was that he was imperfect inasmuch that the 6 personalities that made up Devastator simply could not gel completely, and it was only under Megatron’s direct influence that he had any higher brain function at all.

Other notable additions to the army were Reflector, who was basically a subset of Soundwave’s spy team. The three individual bots that made up Reflector excelled at spying and reconnaissance. There was also Shockwave, who was put in charge of base operations, but was a menace in his own right- he transformed into a large ion blaster that could atomize an enemy in an instant. Only problem with Shockwave was that he was such a suck up to Megatron. At least Starscream made no bones about his intentions and distaste for having to answer to another; Shockwave seemed to relish in it.

The remaining seekers had some extensive body alterations done to them in terms of appearance. Whereas Me, ‘Warp, and Starscream had the exact same bodies and the only differences were in our inner wiring and outer coloring. Ramjet, Thrust, and Dirge each had very distinctive wings and were far more colorful than us, even though the basic structure was still that of an ATM. Those three were the next wave of ATM’s that were created right after us, and as such, they tended to stay within their own little group just like me and ‘Warp and Starscream tended to hang out together, even though Starscream generally left me and ‘Warp at social occasions to go hang out with his Jet/Sky fire buddy to talk science. Couple of Geeks, hehe.

The time had finally arrived to announce our presence in public to the whole of Cybertron. We were someone known at this point; whispered on the tongues of those in dark places to others in oil bars and deep dark trenches, but it was time the world knew who we were and what we were about. Megatron had been devising this plan for many a cycle; we had taken out small time operations here and there, but it was time to make a rather large dent in the faces of the Quintessons. Megatron wasn’t content to just take over a city or two; he wanted the entire southern hemisphere of Cybertron to start off with. His plan was as follows: one group would take over the Kalis sector, which was the primary ore processing facility on Cybertron and a key energy source that the Quints used. The second group would take over the Badlands at Kaon to further strengthen our hold in the south, and the third group would take over the Hydrax Plateau, which was the primary spaceport the Quints used for interplanetary travel.

On the eve of our greatest battle to that point, we laid low for the most part, but ‘Warp and I were so nervous that we just had to hit Maccadams to loosen up. As we walked in, Ole’ Ticker was already hitting the keys; she gave us a big hearty hello as we grabbed our usual table. Orion came over, took our order, and a few moments later, we had our oil. For some reason, this was the best oil we had ever tasted. Maybe it was our inner gyros that were vibrating so abnormally we thought we were going to explode.

“Hey bud, how ya feelin’?”, I asked.

“I feel like I’m about to be fed to the Sharkticons, but you know something? I’ve never felt this alive in my entire existence. Can’t wait to bash in some Quintesson skulls!”

“Same here. I’m dyin’ to try out my enhanced sonic boom on a whole squad of Sharkticons. I’ll knock em down, you knock em out. How’s that?”

We both had a very heartfelt laugh.

And then she walked in. That beautiful female bot that I had seen in here before. I nearly froze in my thrusters when she entered and almost toppled over when she saw me and started heading over. I thought I had met Primus in the after existence.

“Hey there, I saw you in here before, right?” She asked.

“Um, ah, yeah…” I said, fumbling at the mouth.

“I’m Azurite. Nice to meet ya.”

She held out her hand to shake mine; ‘Warp kicked me under the table to give me a reality check and follow suit. I held out my hand, and as if it was a swift transformation, her hand slid into mine so easily, so seamlessly. I could feel the smooth metals that made up her exo-skeletal hands; it was the purest, most gentle metal my receptors had ever felt. At this one moment in my life, you could have melted me into scrap and I would not have cared, for this was the most sensual, totally eclipsing moment in my existence. For that one brief moment, our sparks were one.

“Well, I can see that you are just a chatterbug, so I will just leave.”

“Wait, um….no, I’m sorry, I just….just have a lot on my mind right now. Please, have a seat.”

“Hehe, you look like you are gearing up for a battle or something. Actually, I have some business to conduct with the bartender, so I can’t stay long, but it was nice to meet you….um……what’s your name?”

“Thundercracker. My name is…..Thundercracker.”

“Nice to meet you, Thundercracker. I’m sure we will be running into each other soon. Until Then.” And with that, she walked off to the main bar.

“Warp, let’s get out of here.”

“Gee, one little fembot, and you run like a terillian rat!”

“Shove it up your thrusters. Come on, let’s go.”

We got up, and started to head for the door. I turned around as if possessed by some other force that had taken control of my motor functions, albeit voluntarily. She met my gaze, and it was as if a thousand breems had passed in that one moment. She winked an optic at me as I rejoined reality in my thoughts, and I was off to prepare for war.

On the state day cycle of 12003, roughly 8.7 million years B.E.L. (Before earth landing) the Decepticons declared war on our Quintesson oppressors.

The first battle took place in the Badlands in Kaon. Megatron led this campaign personally with about two thousand modified drones accompanying him. Since the Quints had the least amount of presence in Kaon to begin with, it wasn’t very long before they were totally outnumbered and outgunned. Strategically, one might say that Megatron took the easiest battle himself, but that was not his reason- he wanted the extreme southern hemisphere of Cybertron totally under Decepticon control in case either of the other two campaigns needed to retreat and regroup. Kaon itself was quite a battle even though it didn’t last too long from what I hear; the Sharkticons were so overwhelmed with the sheer volume of the drones that they lost direction and aim and simply started going mad to the point where they were actually attacking each other and the Quint masters. There was one large pocket of Quint presence around one of their rather weird looking spiral ships. As the Sharkticons were being mauled down, the entire Quintesson population in Kaon went to board this one ship, and as they were just getting off ground, Megatron sent a powerful ion blast under the ship through the thrusters. He actually got underneath the thrusters to make his shot; now can you tell me of another bot who is either that insane or that brave to do such a thing? I didn’t think so.

At the same time, Megatron had sent Soundwave, Reflector, and all the cassetticons with a legion of one thousand drones to take down the Hydrax Plateau. This was not an easy job, but the intelligence of the plan was simply something the Quints weren’t counting on from their former slaves. Hydrax was a crucial spaceport in terms of the Quints making their trade negotiations and receiving potential customer visits from around the universe. Of course, most of the spaceport guidance was run by automatic systems, and what better way to bring that guidance system down than enlist the talent of a bot who single handedly silenced an audience of a thousand bots with one stroke? Soundwave not only excelled at espionage, but he was instrumental in disrupting an entire automated system in what ever surrounding he found himself in. His audio warfare was as debilitating as my sonic boom. So the trick was this: While the entire legion of drones were busy combating the sharkticons and the one guardian robot that stood at the spaceport, Soundwave and his crew infiltrated the main communications port and sabotaged the entire relay system. Everything that was in movement, whether in the air or on the ground, went haywire and pretty much destroyed itself. Whatever resistance was met inside the main port was minimal; the entire Cassetticon crew had been unleashed, and the remaining Quints were under fire from all directions. Rumble invested some quality time in using his pile drivers, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw had the advantage in the air since neither the Quints nor the Sharkticon gaurds had flying abilities, and that cat Ravage was completely vicious in tearing apart whatever his maw could find. Of course, Ravage’s side mounted thruster bombs didn’t hurt, either. After Soundwave had completed this portion of the mission, Reflector set up detonator charges all around the base of the port. He gave Soundwave the signal to get the crew out, then set them off. I heard you could taste the odor of the charred Quint tendrils all the way back at Maccadams. The last bit of the battle was defeating the Guardian Robot. The drones kept it occupied, but they were obviously no match for him regardless of how sophisticated Megatron might have designed then. That’s when the heavy artillery arrived. Soundwave, Reflector, and the cassette crew were blasting away at the thing simultaneously, but they just didn’t have enough combined firepower to really make a dent in it, and that’s when Megatron arrived. Megatron made a precise blast right at the Guardian’s Head rendering his outward sensors totally immobilized. It definitely slowed the Guardian down, but instead of aiming at specific targets, the thing just went haywire and started blasting and smashing everything around it. With the combination of Rumbles piledrivers, Soundwave’s sonic debilitizers, and Megatron’s sheer firepower, they fell that damn Guardian with the 1-2-3 punch. When it was finally down, the remaining drones started picking at it piece by piece, clawing their way through the innards like the salivating Cytonian worms on Cytus 3. It was dead.

The last, and toughest part of the battle was taking Kalis, which is where the entire seeker crew, a battalion of two thousand drones under the command of Shockwave, and a few other surprises awaited the Quints. Since Kalis was a main source of energy production, it was also one of the most heavily guarded, which is why the seekers were sent there. As previously stated, the Quints didn’t have the capabilities for aerial combat, and that was the key to winning this battle- with Starscream shouting our first battle cry in the form of “Decepticons, onwards to victory!”, we razed the ore processing plants with devastating results. Starscream, ‘Warp, and myself took the main processing plant from the air as the drones marched in for the land assault. Shockwave was also becoming quite adept at atomizing a single bot in one shot. He also had the advantage of his own special drones which were called Sentinels. They weren’t as sophisticated as the warfare drones, but they watched his back as they were attuned to his cerebral cortex, producing action from thought. Ramjet, Dirge, and Thrust took the smaller plants that were offshoots of the main plant. I actually watched Ramjet fly through a standing building. I couldn’t believe it- I didn’t think anyone was that dumb, even ‘Warp, but Ramjet had this penchant for just mauling through things without even blasting them. Regardless of his stupidity, he did manage to crack a nice big hole in the roof through which the other two dropped some high yield cluster bombs and blew the place apart.

The Sharkticon forces as Kalis were pretty tough; tougher than the other two battles. I would say that the Sharkticons and the Drones were pretty evenly matched in numbers, but the drones just didn’t have the necessary viciousness that the Sharkticons possessed. So the key was: how do we turn this to our advantage? Starscream had the answer: nullify as many as you can, then get Soundwave in here to send some rather confusing signals to their primitive brainwaves as to who the enemy was. Soundwave arrived with his crew in the nick of time and sent the needed signals. Next thing I knew, the Quints were being chased by their own brutal enforcers! It was a hysterical sight to behold.

As our trio cleared out the main plant, we went our separate ways within the structure hunting down whatever remains we could find. I had started down a desolate corridor just as a routine check and came to a dead end when a single Quint snuck up behind me with and energo blaster in his hands. I honestly thought I was cooked for sure. Of course, he failed to notice ‘Warp materialize behind him, which gave the necessary distraction when ‘Warp tapped him on the rear of his head and I blew off one of my sonic booms. He got disoriented quite quickly, and that was when me and ‘Warp blasted him to pieces.

“I owe you one, bud.”

“You can pay me back at Maccadams later,” ‘Warp said with a chuckle.

As we flew back to the main group, I couldn’t help but notice how much I was actually enjoying this. It wasn’t just the feeling of the freedom I was fighting for, but I was beginning to develop a taste for this malevolent power I was wielding; the destruction in all its forms was like the purest oil Maccadams could serve. It was addicting. After the building was clear, we went outside to assist Shockwave and the drones. As I picked off each enemy, one by one, the power seemed to grow and grow. It was glorious. Watching my would-be masters sizzle in their own burnt remains gave me pleasure.

We had just about won the battle when the Quints’ last defense literally walked out all over the drones. 3 Guardians, quite pissed off already, began dishing us the dirt. We assaulted them from the ground and air, and we were able to slow them down, but it just wasn’t enough.

That’s when Devastator showed up with Megatron and the rest of the Decepticon Army. Having already secured the other two battles, the entire Decepticon Armada was here to take down these behemoths. Devastator started on the first one, and he did have the clear advantage- the Guardian might have been huge and comprised of bulk, but Devastator had the agility, firepower, and equal sizing to smash him with his bare hands. Megatron and Soundwave worked on the second one, while the entire seeker crew worked on the third. With our power levels fading and energon running low, we delivered the final blast that fell the final Guardian. The entire quadrant seemed to be filled with smoke and the burning remains of both our drones and the Quintesson forces. Devastator picked up Megatron in one hand to bring him to sky level so he could survey the land. We all stayed on the ground, silent, looking up at our leader who had braved 3 batles and still functioned. He gazed intently upon us and finally spoke.

“Decepticons, remember this moment- what you see, how you feel- this is the moment of our first victory for the betterment of Cybertron! We have won! No one shall ever stand in our way!”

We pondered those words for a microsecond, then let out a resounding shout of victory, in the name of Megatron, in the name of Cybertron, and in the name of the Decepticons.

Before heading back to Kryos, who would be extremely busy for the next few cycles, the seeker crew flew to Maccadams to celebrate.



“FREEDOM……………….FREEDOM……………FREEDOM…………”

With drinks in our transistors and more energon than you could imagine, we sung that chant the whole night. Every last one of the seekers, including myself was extremely drunk. We were beaten up, could barely stand, but we were one step closer to freedom. That knowledge was what gave us even the most minimal movement in our inebriated conditions. Ramjet was going around butting everyone in the back and completely acting like a fool. ‘Warp was playing the “now you see me, now you don’t” game with me all night. Even Starscream seemed to loosen up a little after a few oil brews, and that was rather strange of him considering his almost phobic individuality and effort to detach himself from any other bot. Poor Orion Pax was being kept so busy between serving drinks and holding us up so we could walk that the kid was damn near nervous breakdown.

At that moment in time, I felt like I owned the entire world of Cybertron. I had been tested, and I had passed. My ace was my power. It had been wielded with the utmost destruction along side those whom I called my brothers. We were like nothing that had come before, and we were going to stick around for a long time. Longer than even I had suspected back then.

As Orion was trying to kick us out so he could close down, we started stumbling out of the building. Me and ‘Warp were basically holding each other up just to get out of the door.

“Come on, time for Kryos to work his magic on us, “ I said.

“Ain’t that the truth.” As we were about to transform and hit the air, a small piece of metal hit me off the head. I turned around, and saw nothing. I figured it was just the hyper jolt of the last brew I had, but another random piece of metal hit me again. ‘Warp had already taken off, so I figured I would stick around to see who the new prankster was.

“Ramjet, if that is you, I’m gonna kick your transistors to the 4th moon!”

“Maybe it isn’t Ramjet,” a familiar voice said.

I walked over to the source of that voice, and saw Azurite standing there in the dark, silhouetted by the glow of the twin moons of Andar.

“Azurite….”

“Oh good, you remembered my name. I feel honored.” She chuckled and stepped out into full view. “Wow, it looks like you have been to scrap hell and back.”

“You didn’t hear?”

“Yes, I heard. Everyone on the planet has heard. You and your friends have scored for us. The Quints are really, REALLY afraid right now. They don’t know what’s next, and it’s making them as jittery as an Alterian rat being chased by a Toohian Feline.”

“We have just begun, Azurite. We are doing this for everyone, and our leader will ensure a new glorious age for Cybertron.”

“I wouldn’t be to quick to follow every word Megatron says, Thundercracker. Granted, he is paving the way, but his destructive methods make him no better than his Quintesson opressors. You should be wary of that.”

“Megatron is an honorable, courageous leader! So what if he destroys a few Quints? Look at all they have done to us as a race, Azurite! We would still be slaves if it wasn’t for Megatron,” I growled.

“There are other ways of fighting for freedom, Thundercracker. More peaceful ways. Destruction should only be used as a last resort when all other peaceful measures have been taken and failed.”

“I…….I don’t know. I like what Megatron is doing for us. I have to believe it is for the greater good of us all.”

“I ask myself if it’s for the greater good of me, and I am forced to say ‘no’. Thundercracker, I don’t know why, but there’s something about you that…..that yearns for something else. There are always options, you know. Many options. And I want to see you around some more.”

“I dunno, but… I like you. Since the first time I saw you. You sent my gyros aflutter.” I felt so stupid saying that, but in my drunken state, I wasn’t exactly flying on both thrusters either.

“I know. The feeling is….mutual. I have to go now. Think about what I said, huh? I will see you around.” Azurite got close to me, picked up my hand and held it, and then she….did something I have never understood until I got to earth millions of years later. She pressed her face against mine and placed her lips on my right lower facial plate. I didn’t know what to do. I just kind of stared at her. “Go home, now handsome. Looks like you could use a good cleaning.” She transformed into a sleek hover craft with side wings. The flow of her alternate form was beauty in a word. Azurite initiated thruster acceleration and jet off.

I stood there motionless, pondering what had just occurred. My spark was so strong that I thought it was going to burst out of my chest. I transformed and took off myself. Back to Kaon. Back to my source of freedom.

When I got back, Megatron was already in the stages of planning our next conquest. Man, he just never stopped, not even to rest or repair himself. Soundwave was right by his side, monitoring random transmissions going out all over the planet. Obviously, he had his work cut out for him in the wake of our success. Quintessons were beefing up production of Guardian Robots, all kinds of verbal graffiti was being shot out across the air waves, cheering us on.

“Megatron, transmission detected regarding various surprise attacks in the Iacon sector,” Soundwave said in his monotone voice.

“Iacon? There are no Decepticons there! Who authorized these attacks?”

“Unknown at present time. All Decepticons have returned to Kaon. The new attackers are not linked to us.”

“Hmm, so we have a new faction of transformers fighting in the battle for freedom. We must introduce ourselves at once.”

I was overhearing the entire conversation in the clear; Megatron made no move to dismiss me.

“Thundercracker, you performed well today. Your might and your right to freedom makes you the ideal Decepticon Warrior. Others could learn from your obedience as well.” Megatron gave a sideways glance to Starscream, who was just in earshot.

“Thanks, Megatron. I am eager to serve,” I replied.

“As you should be. There is no greater cause to serve than that of the Decepticon Armada.”



With a firm hold on the southern hemisphere of Cybertron, Megatron continued to push the borders further north. Battle after battle, we continued our fight for freedom, and we lost not a foot in battle. The Constructicons had developed a new processing facility to manufacture drones by the thousands; for every one lost in battle, there were 10 more to replace it. The Quints continued to withdraw further and further to the north, which was working well for two reasons: one, it was part of Megatron’s plan to corner them as we pushed Decepticon boundaries further into their corner. Two, this new faction of freedom fighters that were attacking in the north were pounding on the Quints just as hard as we were. It was now time to meet the face of our “companions” for the first time.

Megatron sent word by way of Laserbeak and Buzzsaw to the northern faction; not a name was given in return, but after hiding out in some darked alleyways around Iacon, the flying duo was able to establish first contact with a member of the new faction- the bot in question was Kup. After all the drinks I had shared with him, I nearly fell on my thrusters when I found out he was part of this new resistance. The meeting was set for the next cycle at 0700 breems.

Megatron took a small delegation to the meeting- not knowing exactly what we were getting ourselves into, he felt it wise to beef up on security back at Kaon in case this was a double crossing by the Quints. The party consisted of Megatron, the three main seekers, and Soundwave. Shockwave was left in charge of the Kaon base along with most of the Decepticon muscle, including the Constructicons. When we got there, no one was to be found. The coordinates were set for a shamble of a building that looked to me like a former mining facility for energon, but it had been dead for quite some time.

“It is I, Megatron. We know you are there. Show yourselves,” Megatron yelled out.
“’Yourselves’ just consists of me, Megatron. Kup. Follow me.”

Kup led us the the southeast corner of this banned mining facility, where a group of transformers were awaiting us.

“By Primus….I should have known that you would be involved in this, Trion,” Megatron said as that old ancient bot, Alpha Trion, stepped out of the shadows to show his face.

“Well, Megatron….what a pleasant surprise. I can see that Kryos has been assisting you in your retrofitted alt and robot modes. It’s a shame he never learned how to finish the job correctly. I did try to teach the lad, but he was so stubborn that he didn’t want to listen to common sense. The poor lad.”

“Kryos is not the reason I am here. I have to admit, I was quite surprised when I learned there was a new faction in Iacon who was on the same side as us.”

“Rest assured, Megatron, we are NOT on the same side. We may have the same objective, but we carry it out differently. Your method of total annihilation against those who would enslave us is not the way we carry out our business.”

“And, what would you suggest, Alpha Trion? Should we shake hands and call it a cycle with the Quints? I think not.”

“Megatron, I am not going to argue philosophy with you. You are a machine of total distruction. I can see you will never understand how the means justify the ends. There are more peaceful ways of accomplishing our shared goal for total freedom. I am inviting you to join our fledgling team. You could profit from this greatly, Megatron- you could expand your education in how to achieve your objectives without causing total annihilation.”

“You are inviting ME? The greatest leader Cybertron has ever known? I laugh at you, old man. My methods provide the ultimate order, the ultimate conquest for our people, the ultimate-“

“We are not fighting for conquest, Megatron. We are fighting for freedom, the right of all sentient beings.”

“Then you can take your rights and shove them up your retro thrusters, Trion! Do you seriously think the Quints are willing to “talk” about your freedom? Do you think they will hand it over to you on a cybertronian platter? They only know slavery and being the masters of the slaves.”

“Did you ever think that maybe no one ever approached them before on an equal leveling? Did you ever think that by trying peaceful means of communication, that they might consider it? And if not, we do not attack them. We defend our territory. Those battles you heard about over communications were us defending our territory from them. We tried peaceful resolution, but it was not forthcoming. That does not mean we stop trying.”

“And that is why you will always be a slave, Trion. The Decepticons are masters, not slaves. We destroy those who would otherwise destroy us. Our new order will make Cybertron one; we shall proclaim our destiny to all, and those who do not follow will be crushed.”

“And that is why, Megatron, you are no different than your Quintesson oppressors. You may be fighting for our freedom now, but what happens when the day comes that we are no longer under Quintesson control? Then who will you claim your superiority to? When will this stop, Megatron? You are dangerously approaching the path of the Fallen, and you know what happened to him.”

“Then so be it! This meeting is OVER! Relish in your peaceful means, old man, because it is all you will have left. In the meantime, we continue our fight for our supremacy. While there remains a Quintesson presence on this planet, I give you my word that I will not interfere with your operations. When they leave, you may want to reconsider your views.”

“Never, Megatron, never. Go now. We have chosen our path, you have chosen yours. May you learn of your mistakes before the consequences become irreversible.”

“Decepticons, to Kaon.” We left the company of Alpha Trion and Kup, more convinced than ever of our righteousness, but I would never forget Alpha Trion’s words for the rest of my existence. However, my alligience was to Megatron and the Decepticon cause, for it provided me with that which I so yearned for- power and order.

On the way back to Kaon, there was a lot of small talk amongst our crew.

“Mighty Megatron, do you really think Alpha Trion will honor this agreement of secrecy? He obviously has some very different views on the subject than you do.”

“It is irrelevant, Starscream. Whether or not he chooses to abide by this verbal agreement, it is of little consequence. Let the Quintessons and their forces waste their power on battling Trion’s little band of mercenaries. It will just be that much easier to deliver the final blows to them in the future.”

“Well, at least if he deceives us, we know where to find him.”

“You think is such small terms, Starscream, and that is why you are not leader. Alpha Trion is ten times more intelligent than you will ever be. He knows enough to move his base of operations now that we have been there. He is no fool.”

I loved it when Megatron would hand Starscream his vocal processors in conversation. Starscream was so egotistical that whenever someone would tell him he was a fool, he would sit there and whine, and you could tell Megatron just shut him down. The rest of us chuckled to ourselves to see Starscream get taken down a few pegs.

As the cycles rolled on, so did the victories. Decepticon borders were nearing the equator of Cybertron; but it was not without total struggle. Occasionally, the Quints would mount an offensive which usually consisted of a few Guardian Robots, but it was a mere exercise; nothing more. We were increasing in number as well; Shockwave had enlisted the aid of some bots known as triple changers, which were born out of a merging of the consumer and military robot lines the Quints manufactured. Their new Decepticon names were Blitzwing, Astrotrain, and Octane. Out of all of them, I sensed the most kindred spirit in Blitzwing- he seemed to have a soul unlike the others, but he was still all for the glory of the fight and the cause.

Occasionally, we would run into a band of Alpha Trion’s mercenaries having an active dispute with the Quints. As per the agreement, we did not interfere. It was sad to me that they were so defiant to Megatron’s ways- after all, his ways were successful, direct, and provided order. There was no questioning Megatron- as his power grew, so did his leadership and command over the Decepticon territories. Those who questioned him learned the error of their ways. Unfortunately, that was for all except Starscream- he continually vied in his quest for power with Megatron. They would fight; Starscream would run to the corner to pick up the shattered pieces of his ego that Megatron had bashed in. It occasionally resulted in fisticuffs, in which Megatron was always the winner. You just didn’t talk to the Decepticon leader like that, and there were always consequences. The one thing I never understood though was that Megatron would never totally demolish Starscream- he would always keep him around. I was never sure if it was because of Starscream’s destructive abilities in the sky. I have to give credit where it is due- Starscream was an exceptionally good fighter, and his personal conquests resulted in many a victory for us. But I always thought to myself that Megatron could just ditch him and replace him with someone of equal skill. Maybe Megatron liked having him around; it kept him on his metal toes. Also, I tend to think that Megatron actually admired Starscream for his insatiable lust for power. In Starscream’s case, he better hope that admiration never lessens.
Alpha Trion’s faction was very much making its home in the Iacon Sector. They would not outwardly fight the Quintessons; instead, they would claim territory in the name of indigenous population and defend it as such. They did have many victories, but the had equal number defeats. At some point, I really hoped Alpha Trion himself would see the righteousness of Megatron, but it was never to be, and in some weird way, I actually respected him more for it.

We waged war for many many cycles; at times, it seemed like my entire existence was just battle after battle, but you know, that was ok. I loved it. I fed off it. ‘Warp and I still kept to our private enhancer times, and then we would usually head to Maccadams. When I would run into Kup, I would greet him, but for some odd reason, it was almost uncouth to speak of our differences in allegiance. We shared many a war story over many a drunk night, but we never, NEVER crossed the line in beliefs. Once in a while, we would trade information, like where Quintesson presence was least likely to be numerous, or where a good shot on a Guardian could be placed. Speaking of Guardians, it was after many oils that Ironhide divulged some important information- apparently, the chief Guardian, Omega Supreme, had defected to Alpha Trion’s faction. When he saw that his Guardian brothers were supporting a race that enslaved the very thing he sought to protect, he destroyed the main Guardian production plant in a fit of rage. We all agreed for the time being that it would be for the best if we kept Devastator and Omega apart since there were still some very hard feelings left over from the days when they called each other “friend”.

After many years (earth term for time measurement), the war was essentially over. Megatron had conquered the south and installed marshal law of the Decepticon armada. Alpha Trion had protected his territory in the north, and without nothing to enslave or rule, the Quintessons basically called it a day. They got up and left, but not without some parting gifts. From their ships, they sent many time delay bombs that detonated once they hit Cybertron’s surface. A lot of our buildings lay in waste; many of my transformer brethren lay decimated in ashes and acidic smoke. Iacon seemed to have got the worst of it since that was the last known stronghold they had. When the last bomb blew, they were gone; probably off to conquer and enslave another world.

The outcome of the Quintesson war was actually quite a let down- I had hoped there would be one last huge battle where we would decimate them not only as invaders, but as a race. For what they did to us, I didn’t mind joining Megatron in their annihilation. It figures they would just run off with their tentacles between their faces.

We held celebration in the streets, both in the northern and southern hemispheres. Over the cycles, ‘Warp and I had collected faces of defeated Quintesson masters. We started to hang them in the halls of our Kaon headquarters. Megatron didn’t seem to mind; actually, I think he kind of liked it. It provided trophies for our cause, and trophies were a sign of our unyielding quest for freedom. In my personal quarters, I collected the jaw constructs of the Sharkticons with as many teeth intact as I could find. I was finally having the last laugh.

Cybertron existed in this peaceful state for many a cycle. For now, the battles and the endless wars were over. For now.

Megatron felt the time for another meeting with Alpha Trion was in order. He sent the cassetticons to work out the exact coordinates of the meeting. This time, it was quite different- the meeting would be in the hub capital of Iacon among the golden steeples that adorned the state building. Instead of bringing a convoy, Megatron decided to basically go by himself with only Laserbeak as an intermediary. It was a risky move, but none could hold themselves better than he.

He arrived with Laserbeak at the High Council Pavilion. Only Alpha Trion was there to greet him.

“The time has come old man.”

“Yes, it has. And I can see you have not changed your ways, Megatron.”

“My might makes my right! The race of the transformers need a leader who will provide order and make us the most triumphant conquerors of the galaxy. Never again will we be slaves! Instead, I will be the master of my civilization! The Quintessons have realized this, why can’t you?”

“Because we are not out for conquest, Megatron. It is as simple as that. You have replaced the Fallen One as the dark leader, Megatron. Beware, one shall rise to fight you and defend the true definition of freedom, not this mockery you have created.”

With a long pause, Megatron finally spoke. “Then, as Sentinel Prime fell at the hands of the Fallen, so shall you at the hands of Megatron. Let this be your epitaph, old man. You were given two chances, and you choose to defy me. When next we meet, it will be in battle. You will realize the might of the Decepticons is far more powerful than any pitiful band of mercenaries you can muster up, and you will realize that I am destined to be supreme ruler of Cybertron!”

“Leave, now, Megatron. You are no longer welcome in the Northern Territories. Just as we defended our home against off world invaders, so we shall from those inward who walk the path of destruction and tyranny. Be Gone!”

Megatron left, but not without making his point- He blasted a hole right in the ceiling of the high council pavilion, and left through it with Laserbeak. Of course, Laserbeak recorded the whole conversation in both audio and visual, and we saw it first hand.

When he returned, Megatron gathered the Decepticon Armada in the bowels of the headquarters- the same place where I first pledged my allegiance to his cause so many cycles ago. He was enraged, and he let it out in his voice.

“Decepticons, we have defeated the Quintessons! They run like Scarrilian rats! Our freedom has been fought for and won! But now, there are those who wish to end our rule! We are mighty, and it is our destiny not only to rule Cybertron, but the universe! The Decepticon armada is powerful and without equal; to bow and share our wealth with those who do not think like us is intolerable! We have a new enemy, mighty warriors! His name is Alpha Trion, and he wishes to see us be slaves to HIM now that the Quintessons are no more. He wishes to see us weak, to see us give up this mighty empire that you and I have created. We have done so much! It cannot end here, it must continue, and I will lead us to ultimate domination of the universe!”

Megatron’s elegant wording won over any lingering doubts within the ranks; the result was a resounding hurrah from the crowd that gathered.

“For now, we will continue to build our forces and guard the territory we fought so hard to gain. But prepare yourselves, fellow Decepticons- the day for war with Alpha Trion will be arriving soon. We will be victorious and rule the galaxy!”

With those words, the (as yet to be named) Autobot and Decepticon War began.

For the time being, there were no real battles to be fought as of yet. Most of the early disputes were just us bullying Trion’s faction. They weren’t ones to lay down and take it, though, they matched us pound for pound. A lot of faces that I had known in the days as a currier were showing up among the faction- I already knew about my drinking buddies, but there were others like Wheeljack, who was in the same class as Kryos taught by Trion. Mirage, who came out of the same factory as me and ‘Warp, Sunstreaker- a local artist who had an ego the size of Cybertron, and Huffer, one bitchy little tough guy. Every time we met them in combot, there were always new faces to be seen.

The disputes started to escalate into battles of territoriality. Megatron urged us to push the boundaries farther north, but they just wouldn’t budge. In a lot of ways, I much preferred this fighting to that of the Quintesson war- this was completely equal. I was fighting my brothers and sisters; we just had different parents. I knew deep down that these bots I battled did nothing to me, but it was really a shame that they didn’t realize just how glorious and powerful it was to wear the Decepticon insignia on your body. It all boiled down to difference of opinion on how to live one’s existence. This was more honest, more endearing to a warrior like me. It meant a lot more, had a deeper impact on my skills as a Decepticon. One of the more ironic things about this was that even though the fighting plain had changed, we still did not carry the battles into Maccadams. I had always thought that even if we did, we would have gotten booted out. And personally, my oils were more important than the war, but don’t think for a minute that I didn’t enjoy wielding my sonic boom against these new foes. To devastate them was so much more satisfying than fighting the Quints. On the playing field, the rules were different but no less destructive. These foes were our metal and energon, though, and it was much like fighting ourselves. How do you outsmart your own programming?

From this question, Megatron started altering his tactics. Instead of wasting fuel on various little border disputes, he wanted to choke Trion from within, so he started covert attacks on various Trion territories. Generally speaking, we went soft at first, choosing to invade the least likely places that had no real strategical importance. It was more like Megatron was trying to send them a message, a hint of things to come if they didn’t wise up to his way of thinking. Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on how you look at it) they never did. And in my current existence, that made the difference. But that’s for later.

Of course, everyone knows what happened at one of Megatron’s raids- it was the most infamous of them all. Megatron had decided to take out an energon holding facility in the heart of the Iacon district, and our little bar hop, Orion Pax, was working a double job as a laborer there. Of course, Megatron couldn’t leave the party without a few casualties, and well…..Alpha Trion saved him and reformatted him. The one thing I never understood was these 5 bots who were at the scene of the action. They helped out Trion and Pax, and you know, I swear they looked like those slagging Aerialbots. Those mystery bots were never seen again. If I recall correctly, Starscream had tried trapping them in time once with the Chronosphere, and of course, he botched that up good. Maybe, just maybe…….oh well. Hey, we all share the skies now.

So when Megatron essentially gave birth to his greatest, most fearless opponent, Optimus Prime, he sent events into motion that would plague us for the rest of our existences. It became public knowledge of what had transpired that day, and who was involved, save for those 5 mystery bots. Prime also had a mate, Elita One, that was a reformatted bot courtesy of Alpha Trion. As far as Trion is concerned, I always knew he wasn’t a fighter- he was a thinker; an idealist, but he was very much the father of the Autobots. Trion was like an extension of Cybertron itself. He was a wise, powerful man- not powerful in a muscle sense, but powerful in a knowledgeable sense. He knew what was at the heart and spark of every transformer, it was almost as if he was the golden son of Primus himself, and he passed his knowledge through a most significant piece of Cybertron itself to Prime- the Matrix.

No matter how powerful Megatron was or could become, he could never defeat the Matrix. Never. It was one of the few absolutes of the universe. Sure, he defeated the corporeal form of Prime that held the matrix millions of years later, but he couldn’t touch the Matrix- not as Megatron, or the Unicron-tainted form of Galvatron.

The day that Prime was born, he uttered the words that changed the war and our existence forever.

“You’ve caused enough destruction for one day, Megatron.”

“YOU! Who are you?”

“Your worst nightmare. I am Optimus Prime, leader of…….of the Autobots. I am here to put an end to your tyranny, Megatron. You wish to rule Cybertron, to destroy the very thing you claim you fight for- freedom. You will not take our freedom away- it is the right of every sentient being in the universe.”

After those words, Prime put a blast hole through Megatron’s chassis that still burns him mentally to this day. We had met the face of our adversary- it was a face like no other. It reeked of courage, strength, wisdom, and purity. It was power contained. We were power unleashed. I grew to simultaneously admire and despise Prime when I met him in battle, and at that time in my existence, I made it my mission to make every attempt to crush him and every other Autobot I could find. But it was a useless ideal. You can’t defeat something or someone that can never die.

Before Prime, the border disputes and silent covert raids had ended largely in Decepticon favor, but now that Prime was here, the tide had turned. The Autobots had found something in Prime that they didn’t have before- a focal point, a voice of strong recognition and decision, and of fierce power for the good of all. He was everything to them that Megatron was to us and more. The Autobots fought back with fervor; they gave us a solid reason to see Kryos at the end of the day.

During the next few million years, we ravaged each other and our planet. Countless battles, some in Victory and some in Defeat. One particular battle that stood out in my cerebral cortex was the Battle of Polyhex on the State Day cycle of 8035 (roughly 8 million years B.E.L.). Polyhex was the central hub for the entire planet, and it was of vast importance to either capture it or totally destroy it- either way, crushing a large part of communications for the Autobots. The battle was downright gritty, our drones fell as soon as they transformed, and we met some of the toughest Autobots in existence. Brawn, Huffer, and an entire slew of others led the offensive on us. We matched power against power, strength against strength, intelligence against intelligence. My central opponent for the battle was Ultra Magnus, a brave, solid bot whose honor was as strong as his courage. We clashed with the most violent concussions; I would give him a few Sonic Booms and he would blast me with equal force. During the physical combat, I tried using his solidness against him- I got him down and was about to blast a hole through his optics when I was hit from behind. It was no normal blast- not only did it stun me for a long period of time, but it rendered my recognition immobile. With every last bit of strength, I turned around on the ground to catch a glimpse of my secret attacker- and I was in personal horror at who I saw.

It was Azurite. Apparently, she was part of the female Autobot faction led by Elita One. Everyone else, including Magnus, had disappeared from the immediate area.

“Azurite, why? Why?”

“I told you before to be wary of whom you follow. All those times you saw me at Maccadams, I was meeting in secret with representatives of Alpha Trion. I tried telling you, Cracker…..I tried. Megatron would have us be his personal servants. Look at yourself- you think you are powerful, but you wield it in the name of one who would oppress us just as the Quintessons did.”

“Azurite, I have to do this….I have to have that rush….that personal feeling of accomplishment…”

“There are other ways to achieve that, Thundercracker. Less harmful ways. Why…did it have to come to this. I felt your spark, Thundercracker. I know there is a soul in you that yearns for something better than this. I so wanted to be a part of that.”

If I didn’t know better, I could have sworn that her optics were leaking oil as she spoke.

“I must go now. The nullifying effect on you will wear off in a few breems. Thundercracker, we must never see each other again. This moment in time right now is more destructive than any laser beam or concussion rifle blast to me. Maybe someday, if things change, but right now, I can never see you again….I am sorry.”

She flew off.

“No, Azurite, NO! Come back!”

Almost as soon as she flew off, ‘Warp came to my aid.

“Magnus ruffed you up a bit, I see. Come on, partner, time to haul you into Kyros’ lab.”

“Warp, she’s gone…I saw….her…..”
“Huh? You better get your processors checked out as well, bud. I think your optics have been scrambled to the max.”

Good old ‘Warp. Always there to save my thrusters when I needed it. The loss that I suffered that day was more than any Autobot could inflict on me; it was as if a part of myself had just departed.

In that moment, I learned the true meaning of “hate.” I learned to hate Alpha Trion and Prime for turning Azurite against me. Were we not the saviors of Cybertron? Did we not ensure freedom for our brothers and sisters on the planet? It was a defining moment in my attitude and in my personal view of power. Prime had the power to gather those who believed in the same ideals as he did; so did Megatron. As ‘Warp had picked me up and flew me back to Kaon, I discovered we lost the battle at Polyphex, but it wasn’t just a battle I lost- I lost a part of me as well.

For the next two to three million years, it was a win-lose situation for both sides. We ravaged Cybertron, and that was ironic- the one thing we both fought for possession of was deteriorating right in front of our eyes, and it was all of our faults. We bombed, we blasted, all in the name of conquest. Thinking back, if we had actually decimated the Autobots, what really would be left to rule? A cindering planet?

Prime knew what was happening- Cybertron was rotting from the outside, and it was not given time to heal any wounds. He knew that in order to live out the life the Autobots had chosen, they must leave the very thing that they fought so hard to protect, which is why he started construction on the Ark, his new spaceship. Likewise, Megatron started construction on Nemesis, which turned out to be a Constructicon Masterpiece of immense proportions. During the wars and the building of Nemesis, Megatron was not content to sit back and rule a desolate planet, either, so he sent out entire teams of Decepticons in search of new, readily available worlds to conquer. One particular team consisted of three drones that Kryos and Shockwave worked on to enhance certain abilities that were previously lacking. The commander of this mini team was Bombshell, and he had the ability to plant cerebral shells in the minds of all transformers, including us. If it weren’t for the fact that he was a Decepticon (and under Megatron’s direct command) I would have destroyed him cycles ago. I absolutely despised this bot, and he knew it.

Bombshell, and his brethren Kickback and Shrapnel, thought they were some kind of royalty among their peers. I think Kryos probably had one too many oils the night he was working on them. They thought their afterfumes didn’t stink. Well, let me tell ya, I didn’t mind letting him know exactly how much I despised him, especially after the “Thrust incident.” As a joke (that was only funny to these three), Bombshell decided to wait for me in my private quarters one night before I came in. When I entered, he smacked me in the head, which rendered me temporarily immobile, and as I was on the ground, he planted a cerebroshell in my cranium. The sickest part about this was that I was fully aware and conscious of what I was about to do, but I had no control over it. So, Bombshell, in his warped sense of humor, decided to have me modify myself to look like a fembot, breasts and all. As I wore these appendages (that were fully detachable), he ordered me to find Thrust and “play” with him. So I found Thrust, who had just come back from Maccadams all brewed up, and I waited for him in his quarters. No matter how drunk he was, I would NEVER forget the look on his face when he saw me- it was a mix of horror and humor. As he stood there, I was ordered to perform the “I’m a little servo” routine in full fembot drag. I repeated this over and over, including the dance that accompanied the song. I was fighting so slagging hard to stop, but I couldn’t. I could feel the lubrications leaking out of my optics, yet I couldn’t do anything. When Thrust left to go get the others, Bombshell came out and felt that the gig was up. So he removed the cerebroshell, and for good measure, blew out my microchip circuitry so that I could not function properly. He knew as well as I did that if I were to regain my mobility, I would hunt him to the ends of the planet to pay him back. As a token of his good will, he threw the used cerebro shell onto me before he left.

Thrust returned with the rest of the seekers sans Starscream, and they saw me on the floor still in fembot drag, and just started to laugh. The laughing was more destructive than an ion cannon to the head. I was truly and utterly crushed inside. The only one who wasn’t laughing was ‘Warp, who knew full well what happened. He saw the cerebroshell and instantly picked me up off the ground to return me to my quarters.

“Alright, guys, enough. This isn’t how you treat one of your brothers. Obviously, you can tell someone has been messing with his programming, cuz you know he would never do this in his right mind. Come on, break it up and go back to your quarters.”

‘Warp returned me to my quarters and did some recalibration on my microchip circuitry as well as removing those blasted appendages off my chest.

“’Warp, I couldn’t fight it….I was alone, and he made me out a fool…..I have never felt so small or so insignificant in my life…I can’t believe he did this to me…” My visual optics started to well up with excess lubrication. I was lucky the other seekers weren’t here to see me. It would have been the final piece on the scrap pile.

“Don’t worry about it. I will explain to them exactly what happened. You know, they aren’t too fond of those three either. We will have the last laugh, Cracker, I promise. Come on, lets hook up the enhancer.”

He did just that, and I did start to feel better, but the shame and the guilt that I felt would never fade. Even over millions of years, it would always be a part of me.

A couple cycles later, Warp and the other seekers decided to pay a little “visit” to those three and return the favor. I was still in my quarters, repairing all the minor damage that Bombshell had done to me. Since the three had their own quarters in their own building, they were pretty secluded, which made it easy to pay them back without much notice from others. ‘Warp called the three out, claiming Megatron had sent him as an emissary to bring important news of a new mission. When the three left their building, all the seekers were there, waiting with sidearms aimed and ready. The three were outnumbered and outgunned. First thing ‘Warp did was fire a laser directly into Bombshell’s cerebroshell injector, rendering it useless. Next, Thrust fired a few concussion bombs at them to shake things up. Then Ramjet literally crashed right into them to finish the job. Unconscious, the three were transported to the central hub in Iacon in total secrecy. Once there, they were hung by their feet from the aerial cable junction between the two towers in the front of the semblance hall for every bot to see. Not only were they tied to the cable junction, but they were tied to each other via some tentacles of the dearly departed Quintessons that were left over from my collection of various Quint parts adorning my quarters. As a parting gift, Thrust also reprogrammed their vocal processors to emit high frequency audio waves, like that of a fembot.

The next cycle, all the Autobots saw these guys hanging there listening to them scream for help, and they just stood there laughing. I also heard that when the three were cut down, they were flown back to Kaon in a garbage heap with an l.e.d. display that said “here are your three merry men, Megatron. Have fun.”

I was in the central headquarters when they returned, manning the security stations as my duty. When they were removed from the garbage heap, Megatron was enraged and ordered them to the energon mines.

“I told you to watch yourself, Bombshell. You have already paid for your humor, but you have embarrassed the entire Decepticon Armada.”

“But Megatron…” Bombshell began to whine.

“NO! you have disgraced us! Now you pay your penance! Be thankful I do not give you more to repair on your chassis! GO!”

“Well, this is going to be gratuitous to our stature [stature],” Shrapnel hissed as they walked off. I happened to be by the exit doors, and when they walked by, I uttered a few words regarding a little servo. They turned around, about to start fisticuffs, and the rest of the seekers immediately came to my side.

“When you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us. Have fun in the energon mines, slagface,” ‘Warp said.

“Seekers, back to your stations.” Megatron ordered.
We did have the last laugh on that one. And I felt personally vindicated. After their penance was paid, Megatron got really tired of their whining, so he sent them in a mini pod for new settlement exploration. Even Starscream didn’t particularly care for them, which is why he planted a null bomb that would render thrusters and directional support inoperative after a few breems on the journey. Of course, Megatron was none the wiser on it, so it was a little seeker secret. We never did hear from them again until Earth Landing. How unfortunate for them.

So the whole Nemesis-Ark journey took place as history dictated. We followed them, we boarded them, and we fought. I had a personal score to settle with Prime, but Megatron always wanted Prime for himself. During the battle, the Ark lost direction and was thrust into the atmosphere of this gaseous planet in the terran system called Earth. With all the commotion, every transformer on that ship was knocked unconscious, including the onboard computer, Teletran-1.

Don’t bother asking me what happened in the millions of earth years we laid unconscious, because it was all one big black blur. I do recall, however, having this strange cerebral transmission shortly after we landed involving transformers that had taken on beast modes. I recall one who called himself Megatron, but it was not MY Megatron. This one reminded me of the Dinobot Grimlock that I would meet in battle many years later. And there was this female presence; I believe her name was Arachnia, or Black Arachnia or something. I couldn’t remember if she was a Decepticon or Autobot; it was just a fading memory. If I didn’t know myself any better, I would swear someone had dropped gallons of Maccadams’ finest into me during that period. The only connection I could make was that, prior to our takeoff from Cybertron, a secret group of Decepticons had initiated the creation of something called the Tri-Predacus council. They were very much like the earth-germ’s CIA organization, only ten times more dangerous, and they had Decepticons on their roster that took a more animalistic form versus our machinery form. When that whole beast dream was over, it was back to nothingness, total black out.

Then we woke up.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about this planet is that it was a trip. Not in the physical sense, but in the literal sense. Man, we had ourselves some fun. I’m not going to get into all the adventures we had, or how many times we lost to the stinkin’ Autobots (because just about every battle was a loss for us- lucky for them, they had the earth creatures called humans on their side which tipped the scale a bit), but let’s just say there was never a dull moment. I think the time that stands out most for me was our very first battle on earth- it had been millions of years since I had gotten my fists dirty with another player, and I distinctly remember going one on one with Prime. Of course, he beat me to a pulp, but it was all good fun.

When Teletran had woken up, he had reformatted each and every one of us to resemble some kind of earth vehicle, so naturally, Starscream, ‘Warp, and myself all had identical bodies but retained our distinctive colorings and characteristics. We were reformatted into F-15 fighter jets, and it wasn’t easy adjusting to this new shape. When we discovered the Nemesis crashed in an ocean, I remember seeing this animal which I believe the earth creatures called a “shark”. It was amazing how much my body was similar to the sharks’ in proportion and characteristics.

I think that, in recollection, one of the craziest times we had was when Megatron inadvertently invented this living glitch that could only say one word: “kremzeek”. He sent it to the Autobots, who had a hell of a ride with it, not to mention the fact that Kremzeek single handedly took down Omega Supreme, who had by now rejoined his comrades on Earth. Of course, like every plan that Megatron came up with, it came back to kick us in the thrusters. That little fella had messed me up something fierce. We also caught up with those three slaggin losers who were now calling themselves the Insecticons. Apparently, Starscream’s null bomb had gone off right as they were in orbit around Earth, and they reformatted themselves to resemble earth like creatures called Insects. Apparently, their snobbiness still resounded, as they double crossed us many a time. It was great to watch Megatron blow a fuse and go after those buggers.

Since we were rulers of the air and the Autobots were rulers of the ground, we both developed teams to tackle the opponent on their level- the Stunticons and the Aerialbots, respectively. It was fun going back to Cybertron to give life to the Stunticons, and I was very homesick for my motherland. When I arrived back on Cybertron, a malfunction had occurred in my central processor due to the unstable energies that the Space Bridge required in order to transport us in the blink of a microsecond, so I stayed behind on that mission and reconnected with Kryos, who fixed me up good. After that, the two of us headed down to Maccadams for old time’s sake. I had an absolute blast. Got totally oil faced, and met up with both old comrades and old adversaries. Like I said before, once you stepped over the threshold of that door, you left your problems, allegiances, and vendettas outside. I saw Kup, and told him about some of the battles on Earth. He laughed when I told him about the countless times Prime kicked Megatron’s thrusters. I also saw Sunstorm, and it was so good to see him. Out of all of the seekers, he was the only one who was left behind with all the seeker drones. I caught him up on everything that was going on with his brethren on Earth, as well as the typical stories regarding the feud between Starscream and Megatron. We shared a healthy laugh over some good brew. The energy in Maccadams that day was unbelievable; it was something that I had never knew I lost until I reconnected with it. When you are at war, you focus on the destruction of the enemy, not the follies and good times of socializing. When I headed back to Earth with the others, I forced myself to place this memory engram in my cerbral processors- I didn’t want to let it go.

When we arrived back on Earth, something had changed within me. I mean, I still craved total destruction of my enemy at my own hands, but I also realized that there was something else, another way. I thought of Azurite’s words the last time we saw each other, and I think I finally did start to understand what she was saying. But it was against my programming to assimilate myself to the Autobot’s ways of peace and freedom. Might still made right in my view, and the more might you had, the better you were. When these thoughts would collide, I would go into cerebral fits as if there was this war going on inside of me just as there was outside of me. My temporal processors would occasionally shut themselves down for immediate repair, and to this day, I am thankful that no one ever noticed.

Due to the fact that we were so busy with war, I had little time to spend socializing with ‘Warp. Don’t get me wrong; he was still my best buddy, but Megatron had us going “against the grain” (as the humans said) at all times. If we weren’t in battle, we were preparing for one. It was a lot like the wars on Cybertron, but it was different on Earth because we always lost. The moral of the team sunk so low that there were times when we turned against each other. Personally, I always thought it was just agitation, but I think it could have been something bigger. Bigger as in some of us were getting tired of fighting. The seeker brethren weren’t what they used to be; we had drifted apart in spirit and no longer functioned as one unit. Back on Cybertron, we all covered each other’s thrusters in battle; on Earth, it was every seeker for himself.

‘Warp was actually going quite the opposite in his ways of thinking compared to me- I think the crash landing on Earth all those millions of years ago really jumbled his processors. There were times when he was totally lost and dumb as rocks, and Megatron took those opportunities to strengthen his hold over ‘Warp by providing him with direction and Decepticon Dogma. Sad thing is that ‘Warp believed every last bit of it. It made him strong, and it helped him overcome his second thoughts. I didn’t know if I should envy him for that ability, or think lower of him for buying it. He was my best friend still, but the platform our friendship lied on was starting to crack from the inside. Whenever I mentioned the enhancer, he always had other things to do, so I just let it go. I tend to think that, in all of us, lies a frightened little bot full of insecurities and misgivings, and sometimes that little bot either got the best of us, or was ushed into a dark corner to deal with at another time. ‘Warp’s little bot was never dealt with- it was simply programmed and used at Megatron’s discretion.

The nice thing about the Earth time was that, even though we constantly lost to the Autobots on Earth, the Decepticons were in full command of Cybertron. Over the years lost in endless sleep, Megatron had left Shockwave in charge of the Decepticon Armada on our home planet, and I have to hand it to him- he did a very good job disposing of the Autobots, or at least forcing them into hiding with no hope of victory. In a very ironic way, the tables had turned somewhat- just as the Decepticons initially began as a very small group of soldiers doing hit and run attacks on the Quints, the Autobots now held that position in regards to their attacks on us. There was never any full scale war in all those millions of years, but they were still alive. One particular group of interest was the female Autobot squad- we were actually called back to Cybertron upon the discovery of a group of them lead by Elita One- for all intensive purposes, we had figured they had just simply vanished off the face of the planet, but that was not so. On that particular mission, I urged Megatron to take me with him in hopes I might get a glimpse of Azurite, but it was not to be. She apparently was not part of this particular group. I did see one of her friends, though- Chromia, who kicked our thrusters in along with her companions. I generally veered away from Chromia because she was still Ironhide’s girl, and if there is one thing he is protective of, it’s his fembot companion. I actually felt some sort of compassion for them, having to be separated all these millions of years, not being able to see one another.

Even though the humor of watching us constantly bumbling around in our own “supremacy” was extremely entertaining, Earth was something of an enigma- it was so different from Cybertron that I only felt truly comfortable when we were at the Nemesis base. All this fluidic, natural, un-bot-made terrain and landscape was horrifying. They had these constructs called “rocks” which reminded me of some of the natural moon mines we had for energon, but even the moons were largely manufactured by our race. I do have to give the Earth creatures a little credit, though- they had this particular city called “New York” that had buildings and constructs very reminiscent of our home, and at one point, Megatron had designs to recreate Cybertron at this exact location. Of course, the Autobots foiled that plan like every other. The whole “organic” thing that was happening on Earth actually freaked me out some. It was so non-sterile and completely uncontrollable that the idea of leaving the Nemesis made my diodes disrupt.

When we were just at the point of cracking from all this insanity, Megatron made the decision to move back to Cybertron- and it truly was one of the best command decisions he ever made for the troops. There is nothing like being home. It gives one a feeling of comfort, of superiority, especially when the planet was still under Decepticon command. We had moved back shortly after the creation of the two special teams (the Combaticons and the Stunticons) and we ruled our planet with an iron fist, but somehow, even though the iron fist was what every Decepticon wished for, it still wasn’t enough for me. I was still searching for another way. The technical blackouts that I would experience when thinking of Azurite’s words were getting worse and worse. I was in pain, and no one knew it.

There were a few times that I actually went to see Kryos in hopes that he mind find a malfunction that could instantly be cured, but it was to no avail. I didn’t really tell him exactly what had been happening with me; I more or less just asked him to run diagnostic testing to see if a quick fix was available. He said I checked out fine. On the third visit to him, he began to suspect something and called me on it.

“Cracker, this is the third time you have come to see me without need….is there something going on that you wish to shed some further light on?” he asked.

“Mind your own business, old man. I ain’t got nothin’ wrong with me. I just feel..I dunno……weird sometimes.”

“Cracker, you know I am one of Trion’s first students, and the one thing that I honor above all else, is confidentiality, no matter what is going on. Likewise, I can’t give you a clean bill of functioning if that is not the case. Megatron would have me on the scrap pile in 5 astroseconds.”

“What was it like, Kryos? All those millions of years while we slept on Earth- what happened here?”

“The same thing that happened before you left. Bots came in malfunctioning, bots left either functioning again or in a waste disposal container ready to be melted down. You know I was never on the front line, Cracker. The only thing I ever saw was the casualties walk in the door. My only concern was that they walked out the door with all guns blazing at the Autobots.”

“Does it ever get to you, old man?”

“Of course it does, but I have no choice. My allegiance is to Megatron.”

“Have you ever thought about bowing out?”

“NO,” he said very sternly. “I think you should leave now, Thundercracker.”

At first, I was rather taken aback by the sudden charge in his vocal processors, but I figured I best stop talking before it came back to bite me in the thrusters. Fallen knows there are spies all over the place, not to mention those who would blackmail others within the Decepticon ranks just to advance up the ladder. Soundwave came to mind, especially when you never knew if Laserbeak or Buzzsaw was hiding in the rafters.

When I left, I went to Maccadams for a drink, and no one was really there except the new bar hop, Carbide. He was a goofy young bot, full of potential, and genuinely sincere. As I mulled over my debilitation, I called him over.

“Hey, kid. Let me tell ya something- follow your spark and your inner vocal processor- don’t ever let anyone ever tell ya different, either. There is always another way.”

“Thank you, sir! Can’t tell ya how exciting it is to finally meet the great warrior, Thundercracker, known decimator of countless Autobots.”

“Decimation ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, kid. War is useless if it’s the only thing that makes you function from day to day. Now take this and slaggin beat it. ” I gave the kid some extra energon chips, and left.

When I got back to Kaon, there was a mobile communication grid on my table- I figured it must be another of Bombshell’s pranks, so I had both sidearms aimed at it as I turned it on. What I discovered totally blew my circuits.

“This message and the shell it comes in is set to self-destruct after communiqué has been completed. You are to go to the Decagon in Iacon Central in six thousand micro seconds. Come alone.”

Either someone was gunning for me, or I had a genuine benefactor out there somewhere. It was a tough decision- I honestly didn’t know what to do. Should I go there totally inebriated as I currently am, or sleep it off and figure someone is playing another joke on me? Either way, I charged up my blasters to the max, and did a short regeneration before I did whatever I was going to do. Oh, what the hell, I figured I would go.

I arrived a few minutes before my appointment. The place was barren. I waited around for a few breems, checked my internal chronometers, and figured I had been had. I was about to take off when I felt a tiny piece of metal was thrown at my head.

“Go down into the Vaults at coordinates 3-A,” a familiar voice told me. I had not heard that voice in thousands of years. I was pretty sure my audio receptors were playing tricks on me. So, of course, I headed down to the Iacon vaults.

I guess my audio receptors were right on cue. She stood there as beautiful now as the first time I saw her.

“Azurite, I didn’t think you…..I mean, I wasn’t sure if you had survived the……oh, Primus.”

“Shut up and get over here. I’ve been keeping tabs on you through the cycles, you know. I’m aware of everything that has happened to you since you left.” And then she smacked me square in the cheek plate. “That’s for all the times you laid your Decepticon hands on my Autobot family on Earth.”

I was stunned, but not as stunned as I was about to become. Another familiar face stepped out of the shadows.

“I had to take precautions before we could talk about ‘your problem’”.

“What in blazes are you doing here, Kryos? What is going on?”

“What I’m about to tell you never leaves this room, Thundercracker. And as a token of my honesty, if I am found out, I will have you killed. Even in my death, there are still those who will ensure the total secrecy of our little band.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Of course I would. I am, after all, a Decepticon.” He grimly smiled at me, and then went on to explain to me just what the slag this was all about.

“When you all took off in the Nemesis, the Decepticon militia prospered in the absence of Optimus Prime. We had conquered the planet, and pretty much just had to keep status quo over the planet. It got relatively boring. Yeah, there was a battle here and there, and of course I was called in for repair when the warriors came back home, but I actually began to like the idea of no more war. One night, I was running up to Iacon for certain servo parts, and I happened to run into my old teacher, Alpha Trion. After we traded a few insults, we decided to head to Maccadams for some fine brews. In that moment, he taught me something that was greater than any mechanical feat one could accomplish- he showed me that there was another way to exist. I mulled over his words and was about to have him arrested on treason, but the sudden arrival of some new warriors fresh in from a battle changed my mind. They were young bots, and there were 4 of them. Only 1 survived. I realized that the loss of life from this never ending war was the real horror of our existence, and I didn’t want to be a willing part of it anymore. I met up with Trion again, and he informed me of the League of Vector Sigma, or the L.V.S. for short. I joined it to help bots who were tired of war find some kind of peace in their lives at all costs. I maintained my position as the Decepticon Architect, but I was also a very active member of the L.V.S. Still am to this day. To sum things up, Cracker, I’m giving you a choice. You can be done with the fighting. You can choose another way. We can help.”

“Wait, you mean to tell me that there has been this underground movement all these years, and Shockwave was never aware of it?”

“Shockwave was too busy maintaining Decepticon supremacy over Cybertron to notice.”

“This……..this is all too much. I know I yearn for something more, but….but I cannot release the need for power and destruction. The two thoughts clash within me, and make me….”

I then had another frontal lobe attack, and it shorted out my balance. I fell to the floor, and Kryos and Azurite immediately came to my aid.”

“Cracker, my boy, we can help, but only you can make the choice.”

Azurite began to speak. “TC, there’s something you need to know about the malfunctions you are experiencing- it is technically not a malfunction at all. You were mind wiped.”

“What?”

“She tells the truth, Thundercracker. One thing that most Decepticons didn’t know was that Megatron wasn’t gathering soldiers on his charm alone- he had some help. You remember the story about the Constructicons? They didn’t join us freely- they were coerced in a major way. Megatron literally rewrote their programming with the robo smasher- a device that changed the very nature of transformers themselves. Due to the resistance he encountered with Omega Supreme, he had to be a little more forceful about things, but the truth is ALL Decepticons were reprogrammed by the Robo Smasher, even if they didn’t know it.”

“How could this be? The only one who ever worked on me was….”, and then it donned on me.

“Yes, it was me, Cracker. I was under orders from Megatron to use the Robo Smasher on not just you, but everyone when I initially started working on all of your upgrades. When I had to place each of you offline and configure your receptors to recognize your new components, that was the chance I had to rewrite a lot of your logistics programming. Myself and Megatron are the only two Transformers in the Decepticon Armada that know about this. Until I joined the L.V.S., that is.”

“So that is why I am suffering these chronic spasms in my frontal lobe…it was YOU……”

“Relax, Cracker. The process is reversible, but the bigger issue is this: how are you going to simply disappear? You know Megatron will hunt you down and find you, and that is why we have initiated a relocation program that will help protect you from Megatron. My only concern specifically regarding you is that you are one of his top soldiers. He would obviously notice you are gone.”

“A beautiful fembot once told me that there is another way. There is always another way,” I said with a wry smile. Azurite placed her hand on my check- there were no imperfections in her metal, and it was so soothing to my warped face.

“What do you propose, Thundercracker?”

“Back when I was still under Quintesson rule, they had a whole fleet of drones that looked just like the main three ATM’s, err, seekers. The only difference was that the drones didn’t have the ability to compute things beyond a very rudimentary level. They were mostly controlled via a main tower in Polyphex central. Fortunately for me, there were several still in production when I was defecting to the Decepticons that never made if off the shelf. If we could find one of those drones, perhaps……..”

“We can do a complete switch. I have the ability to transfer your cranial waves and processors directly into the drone. But there will have to be a trade off, cracker- you will have to revert back to Cybertronian Seeker mode, while I make the drone a complete replica of your Earth form. If I could simply switch your central processors, that would make things so much easier, but I believe the drones don’t have the correct modules to accept a central processor they weren’t designed to implement, so it’s just going to be one huge data transfer and major face lift on both your parts. For now, I’m not going to reverse the reconfiguring the robo smasher did to you- you are better off being a warrior while I gather the parts for this.”

“What are a few more cycles when you will have the rest of existence to live another way,” Azurite added.

“Fine. I got guard duty in a bit. I’ll head back.”

“I will contact you when I am ready,” Kryos said.

Before I left, I went over to Azurite and placed my face against hers, just as she had done to me so many millions of years ago. She responded in kind.

On the way back, I thought about my game plan for what I was about to go through- the first thing was securing an old clone body at Polyphex. That wasn’t going to be easy because it was a heavily guarded location due to its importance regarding Planet Wide communication. Even though I was part of the ruling family, I couldn’t just walk in there and walk out without a ton of questions, requisition forms, and more ass kissing for said forms to explain exactly what I was doing. Besides, I still knew a few secret ways into the compound, and I was fairly certain I could get the goods without much hassle.

I got back to shift duty, and went to my quarters to find ‘Warp waiting for me.

“Where you been, bud?”

“Ahh…..just out for a drink. What are you doin’ here?”

“Well, I figured we could use the enhancer for a bit….it’s been a long time.”

“Sorry, man- I had to get out for a little while. Maybe some other time.”

“Ok.”

‘Warp left, but it was obvious he wasn’t buying my story. He had a certain glint of suspicion in his eye, and it didn’t take a scientist to figure out that he was acting on Megatron’s behalf.

I went back to duty beside ‘Warp and Thrust. They didn’t say much to me during duty, and I figured it was just as well- I wasn’t really in the mood for talking anyway. I had more important things on my processors.

The next cycle, I headed up to Polyphex to get the goods. It was under heavy guard, and it was noticed that I was there, but I wasn’t stopped for questions. I circled around to the northeast corner of the structure where the huge negative waste pipes lay- since I had to do a lot of garbage hauling back in the day, I knew the layout fairly well even though Polyphex wasn’t my main duty quadrant. I started to make my way in, ever so wary of the sentinel monitors that patrolled the entire surrounding area. I finally reached a point where there was no surveillance. I was in the basic guts of the building now. I knew the main processing room where the defunct drone models slept was in the extreme west area of the building, so I basically had to do a lot of zig-zagging through the pipes to get there.

Once I finally made it to the room, the prize waited inside. My sub-atmospheric processors almost went on overload- the air was so acidic from the remaining waste that was never flushed that it practically ate me alive. The metallic dust all over the place was incredible- you could tell that no one had been here in a few thousand years. Back in the day when we were first were becoming part of the Decepticon Militia, Megatron had made use of the ATM drones to a certain extent, but he preferred the ones he developed himself with Kryos’ help. He never made any move to use these ATM drones- apparently, he felt that they were below par, and right now, that suited my needs just fine. The remaining drones were still on the manufacturing line which had since stopped moving for millions of years. It looked like a moment frozen in time, as if any one bot could simply turn a switch and production with continue without a hitch.

The models were in line by color code- there was a line of blue, purple, yellow, and red/gray lines for each of us in the main ATM squad. I quickly made my way to the production line that bore my immediate brothers and sisters. On each production line, there was a sub-line of parts- arms, wings, legs, central processor units, and the sad excuse for the sidearm weaponry. I took one of each part, threw it in the sling on my back, and then made my way back through the maze of pipes to the outer dumping ground of the Polyphex installation.

“Cracker, this is Kryos. Drop off the goods at coordinates 32-7. I will be waiting. Don’t waste time getting here, either. I’m back on duty in a few breems.”

“Understood. Thundercracker out.”

I had to wait until the sentinels patrolling the area made their final sweep over the area before I could take off. I elicited a dampening field around my body to mask my energon signature from those overhead. When they finally past the marker, I transformed and took off. I had made it without a hitch. While I was in transformation, I could have sworn I detected a ghost energy signature mimicking my every move since the immediate exit of the waste pipe. Must be my gyros all wired up due to nervousness, I figured. The ghost image was gone no more than 2 astroseconds after it had appeared, so I was content with accepting it as a random glitch.

I made it back to the meeting place with time to spare, so I was very happy with the outcome. Kryos seemed very optimistic about the procedure, but he still wanted to wait until everything was set up and ready for the official transformation before removing the robo smasher effects from me. I dropped off the clone parts, and headed back to Kaon headquarters. Again, I detected that ghost image in my central scanners, and again, it disappeared almost as soon as it appeared. I was starting to worry if I needed my processors realigned.

I flew back to Kaon headquarters, and resumed my guard duty. The other seekers eyed me strange, as if they knew what was going on. It was probably my own paranoia just getting to me. I still had the cold hearted ambitions of a Decepticon warrior inside me, and trust me, I would not hesitate to blow them away, brother or not, if they got in the way of my goal. It was so strange, I thought- I had the desire to kill for a life of non killing. I knew it was the robo smasher inside of me.

As I walked around, I looked at my fellow warriors in new and different ways, realizing exactly what they were for the first time in millions of years- they were just lost sparks- sparks that thought by fighting another entity they were somehow more powerful than the rest, when the real enemy was inside us all. It is tougher to defeat yourself than others. They thought that by destroying another they somehow stepped up in grandeur and stature, when all it really did was make them pitiful little slaves to the biggest slave of us all- Megatron. This is how I used to think. This is not how I think anymore.

I took a good look at Megatron while on duty. I started to see him for what he really was- and it wasn’t any kind of leader. I thought back to those words Alpha Trion said oh so many millions of years ago about him being no better than the Quintesson enslavers he wished to destroy. It finally donned on me- he was absolutely right. For all of Megatron’s immense power, he was but a small robot whose only real power came from the suffering of others, and truth be told, that was not power at all. The real power, the true power, comes from inside of us. I truly do believe that at one point, Megatron had good intentions, but his methods outweighed the goodness of the goal. He destroyed destroyers. He enslaved enslavers. For all intensive purposes, he could have just been another face on a Quintesson body.

Megatron was the ultimate deceiver- he conned all these bots into believing he was he chosen one, either by force or by word. Sadly, they believed it. And so did I. They believed that they could only attain true power by following another, when all they had to do was follow themselves. They gave into the great lie know as the almighty Decepticon armada thinking it would lead them to the true nirvana of Vector Sigma, but it didn’t. It only led them to their own inward downfalls.

Of course, it was ‘Warp who bothered me the most. He was my friend, and it looked to me like the friendship had been replaced by his belief that Megatron would bring him to enlightenment. I pitied him. I knew deep in my spark that I still cared for him, but I also realized that the war had driven the two of us off in our own separate paths. He believed in the lies that Megatron fed him, and that was unfortunate. I kind of realized that once a bot has fully immersed himself in the lie known as the Decepticon army, it’s very hard to break yourself of that when you have had 8 million years of dogma permeating itself in your head.

So then, it was time. My time.

Kryos contacted me and let me know he was ready to begin the procedure. I still had a few breems left on my guard duty, so I finished them up and then headed out. That slaggin’ ghost image appeared again as I took off- I was getting mighty sick of this happening, so I had to remind myself to have Kryos check my calibrations before the operation.

I arrived at the site- Kryos would do this procedure in the lower caverns of the Chamber of Ancients. Apparently, the L.V.S. gave him special permission to use this place since it was under heavy Autobot influence (the underground movement had it totally secured), and it posed the least likely place for a Decepticon to show up. When I walked through the cavern door, Azurite was there with Kryos.

“You don’t have to sit through this, you know- it’s gonna be a long procedure,” I said to her.

“I know. But I want to be here, Cracker. I want to be here with you.”

I looked at her and was reminded of the sentimentality that I witnessed between Chromia and Ironhide not so long ago.

“In all my time as a Decepticon, there has never been a more important moment to me than this. All the battles, all the feuds, all the energon-shed. It all pales in comparison to this. Thank you Azurite. Thank you for showing me the other way. And thanks to you too, old man.”

“Ok, before anyone is moved to oil droplets, let’s get this show on the road,” he said with a quirky smile.

Kryos was about to start prepping the transfer tables when he revealed the body of the clone.

“In the name of Primus….It is me! Kryos, how did you make that so similar to me? Right down to the cockpit for the earth creatures- I can’t believe it.”

“When you all came back to Cybertron, I had to download all your new schematics to figure out how to make repairs on your Earth forms. I also had some insider information that Teletran 1 sent to the L.V.S. It came in most handy.”

Suddenly, the door to the cavern room exploded, and there was ‘Warp.

“Good thing you have that info, old man, cuz you are gonna need it- to repair yourself! Now would someone like to explain to me what the slag is going on here before I set off these handy concussion bombs I came with?” Warp had found me out.

“’Warp, what are you doing here? Wait, that was YOU! You were the ghost image I kept picking up on my sensors. Why, ‘Warp, why?”

“You turned your back on the Decepticons, Cracker, and you turned your back on me. In either event, you are about to become molten Cybertronian steel.”

“You can’t do this, ‘Warp. We have been friends for so long- I know that we have veered off on different paths, but ‘Warp, you gotta believe me, this is the right thing to do for myself. I can’t stand the fighting anymore- I can’t keep killing other transformers. The war has raged on over 8 million years- I think I have paid my price.”

“Why would you do this, Thundercracker? Why abandon us? Me?”

“You have to believe me, buddy- I don’t care about the Decepticons anymore. I’m through with it all. I just want to live the rest of my existence in peace on Cybertron, and this is the only way I can do that. ‘Warp, I can’t tell you what is right for you- only you can decide that, but this is right for me. Please, be the friend that I started out with and let me go.”

‘Warp stood there for quite some time, very silent and very sullen. Finally, he spoke. “Cracker, I can’t let you go. I have an oath; and allegiance to Megatron and the glory that is the Decepticons. This is not part of the plan……”

“Okay, but check this out- see that drone over there? That is going to take my place in the armada. It will be programmed to think and act as Thundercracker, the warrior, not what I am now. It will obey Megatron without question, it will fight to the end. Can you accept that?”

“But it won’t be….you, Cracker. I will always know this.”

“Warp, please….let me do this. If you ever cared about us, about our friendship, let me go.”

“Very well. I have one request to make- I want to stay during this operation. I want that clone to return with me.”

“You got it.”

Azurite eyed ‘Warp up and down, and I knew she was carrying a thermal blaster by her side that would be up in ‘Warp’s face at the first sign of trouble. “Azz, you won’t need that. Trust me.” She silently recoiled her position back to the two operating tables. Kryos gave ‘Warp a stern glance.

“Skywarp, what you are about to witness have never been seen by Decepticon eyes before. Do well to make sure you keep this to yourself. There are certain benefactors to my cause that would pay dearly for your head.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah old man. Just get on with it, will ya? I promise to keep my mouth shut.”

Kryos began the operation. He prepped both me and the drone on the dual operating tables, hooked up all the auxiliary cables, and had fresh Energon vials feeding us. First, he would transfer my cranial waves to the drone, then remove the robo smasher influence from my corporeal body. Final step would be redesigning my body to that of an ATM. Kryos asked ‘Warp and Azurite to wait outside the cavern door- he needed total silence and concentration. They grudgingly complied and left.

While I was offline during the operation, Azurite later relayed to me that she and ‘Warp exchanged few words during their waiting time outside, but she did say that she felt ‘Warp was genuinely concerned for me. It warmed my spark to hear that later. I know that he had been so brainwashed by Megatron, but there was also hope- hope that he might be able to turn around his existence just as I had. No matter what transpires between us, ‘Warp will always be my brother. We share a special bond, we know each other inside out, and we are a part of each other. There had been countless times he had saved my thrusters and likewise I have had his back more than once. I never had that kind of relationship with any other transformer regardless of faction in my whole existence. It was profound and glorious- my only sadness lay in the fact that I knew I needed to move on.

As Kryos operated, he later recounted to me that at times it was very “touch and go”- he had to wait until my cranial waves were firmly reproduced inside the drone’s empty head until he could remove the robo smasher effects from me. At times, the transfer fluctuated greatly from my head to the drone’s. The neural interface was so fragile that if it overloaded, it could have left me no more than a remote control toy. That was part of the risk for this. I knew that before I went in. It took 3 complete breems for the transfer to finish, and Kryos admitted he was sweating energon the entire time. After the transfer was complete, he then went to work directly on me, disconnecting the interface and removing the effects of the robo smasher. It was a time consuming process; the robo smasher had permeated my entire neural network over the course of 8 million years, so naturally, it was going to be difficult. Kryos had to pump fresh energon directly into my neural network as he removed both the physical and fluidic components that made me a Decepticon. He also had to maintain a constant watch on my spark just to make sure that it did not overreact or underreact.

When Kryos was finally done, he re initialized my cranial patterns and basically flipped the switch to give me existence again. My first image was of the cavern ceiling which was sculpted by Sunstreaker, a rather notable muralist turned Autobot warrior. I noticed the ebbs and flows of each line depicting the battle between the Fallen and Sentinel Prime. The splendor and the coloring were a true work of art; really something to behold. The two-dimensional depiction made me feel like I was actually there, witnessing the battle.

The first words I remember were “Cracker, can you hear me? Are you processing normally?”

“I…….I can hear you…….no……I’m not processing normally…..I do not feel the urge to battle, to claim superiority over fallen warriors I have brought death to…..I do not feel the conflict of programming within me….but……I do feel……FREE.”

“Then the operation was a success. Try to stand up, Son. I want to make sure the equilibrium in your central processor is functioning properly.” I did as he instructed, very slowly. The legs and feet moved off the table gracefully, and I bent at the torso to bring my upper shell vertically. The fresh energon within me flowed throughout every crack and crevice in my body; my parts felt as if they had been totally reborn. I felt as if it were my first time off the assembly line, fully functional and totally new to the world I would inhabit.

“I don’t know what you did, Old Man, but I would say……you did good.” That was as close as I could get to being sentimental and emotional. “I have to ask, though….will I be a total invalid now? Will all I care about be peace? Will I be able to defend myself if need be?”

“You will find those answers inside of you, Cracker. Think about this: the Autobots still have to defend themselves, and that requires physical combat. They don’t have any robo smasher effects running through them, either. You are one alike now. When the time comes, you will know.”

I thought that was a puzzling answer; couldn’t it just be a simple yes or no? I mean, either you can defend yourself or you can’t.

“There are a couple bots outside who are waiting very patiently to see you, son. Shall I call them in?”

“Yeah, go ahead.” Kryos opened the door. Azurite walked in first, then ‘Warp. She came over to me very slowly, looked at me as if she were seeing right through me.

“Cracker, can you……do you….um…..feel any different?”

“Yes, I do. I have found the other way.” She came over, hugged me for what seemed like forever, and then pressed her face against mine. I responded in kind. “Life will be different now, Azurite. The struggle within is gone. The mental chaos that surrounded my cranial waves has been obliterated. Now, I am a life giver, not a life taker.”

“I love you, Cracker.” That was an odd word; love. During my time on Earth, I remembered Soundwave picking up visual and audio transmissions generated by the Earth Creatures that seemed to endlessly dote on the use of that word. I had a sense of what it meant, but never fully registered the intention behind it. Until now.

‘Warp came over and gave me a stern look. “What do you remember?”

“Everything, bud. Everything.”

“I wish you luck in your search for whatever it is that you could not find with the Decepticons. I would be lying if I said I totally understood this, cuz I sure as slag don’t. But if it the right thing for you to do in your existence, then so be it.” He cracked the edges of his mouth to form an extremely distorted smile. I don’t think I had ever seen him smile in his entire existence.

“Thank you, ‘Warp. We will keep in touch. I promise.”

“I’m sure we will be seeing each other down at Maccadams. You do remember how to drink, right?” He let out a little chuckle. “I think it is time for me to depart. Megatron has something in the works that we need to be briefed on regarding an Autobot outpost on one of Cybertron’s moons. Old Man, I think you have something for me, right?”

“Indeed.” The one thing I had forgotten about was the clone; in all the excitement, I failed to even ponder what became of my former psyche. Kryos removed the clone from the exam table and flipped the switch. He turned around to me and said “this might be a bit shocking.” He initialized the motor function skills and totally autonomous cranial waves inside the clone. “Thundercracker, ARISE.” The clone responded without hesitation. It stood up, and it was as if I was having an out of body experience. I could see the spark of evil in its eyes, the lust for battle, the need for superiority.

“Where am I? Who are these people? And what is that Autobot female doing here?”

Kryos stepped up to the plate to answer. “She is a captive of the Decepticon Army that you just procured. Unfortunately she blasted you with a stun ray. You have been out for a few breems while we have been interrogating her. However, I have received message from Megatron that you are to return to Kaon Head Quarters immediately. He has important plans to discuss with his key officers.”

“Let’s not waste time. Come on, Thundercracker. Time to return,” ‘Warp added. The clone began to follow ‘Warp out the door. ‘Warp gave me a nod on the way out which I knew was his way of saying goodbye. As the clone passed me, he stopped to study me, study my face.

“Who are you? I do not recognize you?”

“<ahem>, that is an old ATM clone that has been under my supervision. I am in the stages of experimentation with them to strengthen the Decepticon numbers. Now, be off! Do not keep Megatron waiting!” Kryos intervened. The clone resumed following ‘Warp out of the Iacon Cavern and out into the sky.

“What if the clone mentions something about this meeting to Megatron?” Azurite inquired.

“He won’t. I have his cranial waves set to reboot and eliminate any recorded memories within one breem after the initial activation of his neural net. We are safe.”

“Old Man, there is one more thing I want you to do before I leave. Get this slaggin face off my body.”


As Azurite and I flew home, I noticed the subtle differences in the way I viewed things. I started appreciating the monuments my race built on my planet and wondered why I would ever want to destroy them. I saw the hidden Autobot families and wondered why I would ever want to rule them. I saw the face of my former self patrolling heavy Decepticon areas, and wondered why I would ever want to be that. The more I thought about things, the more I started to feel guilty about the destruction I had caused over the last 8 or so million years. The lives I took in the name of power were but hauntings that I knew would forever be with me. The rest of my existence would be spent in rectifying the sins of my past.

Azurite had a nice humble abode in the city of Iacon- most of the Autobot underground and the non-allied transformers populated Iacon. It was still under Decepticon supremacy, but they tended to stray away from Iacon due to the heavy Autobot influence. There was a very roundish flow to her place- not so many jagged edges like most of our buildings had. It was spacious for two people, and it was decorated with instant visuals on the walls of her friends. I recognized a lot of the faces in those pics- female Autobots like Elita One, Autobots like Skids and Smokescreen, and places like Iacon before the war when it had a golden, unmarred tinge to it. There was also a large visual of Optimus Prime- it made me think to myself how the Autobots almost saw him a god-like manner. I was never much into deities, so the meaning was sort of lost on me, but the presence alone was meaning enough.

It would take me several cycles to adjust to my new way of life, and there were days when the faces of the slain haunted me so bad that I thought I would start having those damn glitches again in my frontal lobe processor, but it didn’t come to that. Azurite was there with me every step of the way, supporting me when I needed it most. She would have her friends over occasionally, and of course, at first they would stare at me, even in my original ATM mode- most bots associated ATM’s with Decepticons since the redesigned ATM’s made up a large part of the armada, but my lack of insignia (which Azz would point out immediately) left the horrified friends in a better understanding and comfort. They soon got used to me, but under no circumstances was anyone to know my true origin- it would be kept secret forever between myself, Azurite, Skywarp, and Kryos. Even though I was not used to this closet-living, I grudgingly accepted that as time went on. In the end, it was a small price to pay for a new life. But my true test would soon come- in the shape of a planet devourer.

What I am about to recount is pretty much public knowledge- it was the behind the scenes footage that no one truly knew anything about.

Those plans that Skywarp had mentioned during my “operation” were of course the raid on the Autobot base on Earth that would be Megatron’s final campaign. They stealthily invaded an Autobot shuttle on course to Earth. They met with resistance once they arrived at the base. They totaled many Autobots; many Autobots totaled them. Megatron had his final showdown with Optimus Prime. They both ceased to exist, and Starscream finally landed the role of Decepticon Leader. It would be the backlash of these incidents that would effect me.

I know for a fact what happened on the course back to Cybertron inside Astrotrain. After the Autobots kicked the slag out of them, the Decepticons “lightened” the load by dispersing their fallen comrades. I know who those fallen comrades were. Get enough Grade A oil into any of the Constructicons, and they WILL talk, especially when they get on a boasting spree down at Maccadams, which they did later. Of course, I didn’t find all this out until after the end of the last Cybertronian War, but that is a little later down the line in the story.

Every single Decepticon of course will tell you that was me that perished along with Skywarp and Megatron only to be totally reformatted by the planet devourer. It was my corporeal body that was mercilessly shoved out of Astrotrain, but it was not ME. The only active Decepticon on that last mission that knew was ‘Warp, and he kept his word. When I learned that he had been reformatted, I knew that the bot I called my brother died in that split second. Whatever the planet devourer had done to him, it was not Skywarp anymore. It was just a new, twisted vision of the devourer himself. My friend died that day. It was with a heavy spark that I came to terms with it.

As far as the others that were reformatted, I could have cared less about the Insecticons. They were useless as soldiers and did not act for the Decepticon empire itself, but only for themselves. Megatron became Galvatron; it was public knowledge, but he was so tainted mentally that he would never be the strong leader he once was. And for a short time, Starscream finally led the Decepticons. Of course, that was before he was blown to atomic dust by the Ion Displacement cannon of Galvatron.

Something big was happening, even bigger than the fate of my former fallen comrades. It would be my test, it would be the fate of every Transfomer in existence. It would mean the difference between maintaining our planet, or watching it split to atoms as we were devoured by the robotic devil god himself, Unicron.

Living in Iacon, I was obviously privy to quite a lot of information traveling through the Autobot airwaves. Azurite was still an active lieutenant in the Autobot forces, particularly with the females. At this point, I still had not come to terms with the horrors that faced me every day of my new existence- the horrors I had created as a merciless weapon of terror and destruction. I would not and could not let it defeat me, but it wasn’t an issue I could ignore either. I think that one of the basic themes of my repentance was the willingness of the Autobots to forgive- of course, they didn’t specifically know who I was, but I saw the way they valued life and existence- even those of their enemies. All those times Prime saved Megatron’s butt on earth finally made sense to me- before, I would have destroyed without hesitation had my enemy fallen or became entangled in a situation that was potentially explosive. Now, I understand.

As I struggled on, I had learned on the day that Megatron struck Earth with Prime in pursuit, he had left behind some protection for the Autobot masses in Iacon Central. Azurite had a communications grid in her living quarters which she did not hide from me at all- we were both open and honest with each other, and I understood her position completely. I even sided with it. Since Megatron had most of the active forces with him on Earth, there was still quite a Decepticon presence on Cybertron, and Prime wanted to make sure that the Autobot citizens of our home planet would in no way be harmed had Megatron ordered Shockwave to initiate a double offensive on the planet. The mystery Autobot reinforcements were to meet us directly at the Iacon central district buildings below in the caverns.

When I saw who arrived, I almost dropped my thrusters out of alignment.

If it was one thing that I absolutely dreaded from the Earth days, it was meeting up in battle with a Dinobot, and one of them just strolled in. They wrecked us BAD in practically every battle we had with them. If it weren’t for the fact that they wore the Autobot insignia, they would have made perfect Decepticons because they were just beasts on a leash- totally powerful, carnivorous, and deadly. The Dinobot in question before me was Snarl- I believe he was modeled after an ancient Earth creature called a “stegosaurus” which became extinct by the time we woke up on Earth. He was huge, just slaggin’ huge. His presence alone shook fear into most Decepticons and we dreaded Megatron’s words when he ordered us to attack them. I always found that the most ironic thing about the Dinobots was that they were completely stupid, I mean, even more so than ‘Warp, Primus rest his spark. They had no idea that they immense power they already possessed was what most Decepticons sought out in their entire existences. Snarl was equipped with scale shaped deflector dishes along his spine that dually acted as power enhancements when in battle- they would soak up the solar rays, initiating a complete power surge in weaponry when in battle. He also carried an energo-sword modeled after the mechanics of the Quint’s energo-tentacles by the Autobot chief technician, Wheeljack.

And of course, who but the Aeiralbots to accompany him. As much as I used to despise them in battle, I have to admit that they gave the seekers quite a run for our energon chips. They were Prime’s answer to our ownership of the skies, just as we had created the Stunticons to battle the Autobots on the road. I especially liked their leader, Silverbolt. He was the calm, collective squad commander of the Aerialbots, always being the voice of reason and logic behind his squad’s reckless behavior. I could now see why Prime put him in command of such a rowdy bunch, especially that loudmouth Slingshot. Oh, what I wouldn’t have given to wrap that slaggin’ bot right in the mouth with chromium plated knuckle sandwich. It was all I could do to keep my composure in front of these former enemies. As much as I had changed, I still had to deal with my former thoughts and feelings regarding my adversaries- sometimes, just the initial sight of certain bots made me want to bust shell, but I constantly reminded myself that it was not that way anymore, and control of my anger was of the utmost importance.

When these bots took their first gander at me, all I could see was the defensiveness in their optics. Obviously, then knew Azurite would never compromise a mission, but I could still feel the hesitation of acceptance in their stance and glare.

“Az, who’s this joker?” Slingshot asked.

“Oh, that’s um……TC. A close friend of mine.”

“Snarl no like strangers….”

I chose to respond this time. “Relax, big boy. You have nothing to fear from me.”

“I don’t know, Az- he sure looks familiar…….I can smell Decepticon all over him,” the punk said.

“Slingshot, if you are done performing the inquisition on someone who is in one of Prime’s most trusted officer’s company, maybe we can get on with our duties?” Silverbolt commented.

“Fine,” the punk retorted, “you wouldn’t know a Decepticon if you were standing two feet from one.”

“Thank you oh so much, oh wise Slingshot. Now, back to the reason we are here- Commander Azurite, you know what’s happening right now- Megatron has initiated a full scale assault on Autobot City on Earth. We are here to make sure there are no repercussions on Cybertron. He took most of his forces with him, but obviously, there are still a lot of Decepticon ranking officers as well as the drone armies left here. Prime put me in charge of this merry little band, but of course, you are the ranking officer here, so I follow your orders.”

“Thanks, Silverbolt. For now, we are just going to monitor all activities in the Iacon Sector- Megatron knows that is where the largest concentration of hidden Autobots is on the planet. There has been a perimeter wide defense net set up around Iacon in case of any misguided notions that Megatron thinks he can obliterate us. Basically, all we have to do is sit tight and watch.”

“Understood,” Silverbolt replied. Such the noble commander he is, I thought. He started to walk over to me. “Greetings, uh….TC, was it? Wish we were meeting under better circumstances. Nice to have you aboard.”

“No regrets, Silverbolt- I feel like I have known you for a lifetime. Thanks for having me along.” Azurite shot me a sideways glance at my little “inside” joke there. I responded with a wry smile.

“Very good then. Commander Azurite, I would like to go over some schematics with you while we wait if that is ok.”

“Sure, no problem Silverbolt. TC, think you can play with “the boys” nicely?”

“Oh, I will do just FINE, maam.” I retorted.

Azurite and Sliverbolt took to the corner of the room that was equipped with a long range scanner and contraband communication terminal. I headed over to the clan, walking proud. I was a new bot, and despite my preface for a peaceful existence, I still had a lot of gusto in me. Of course, the first one to open his yap was the punk.

“Hey, aren’t you one of them old ATM versions of the seekers? I’m surprised you can still get off the ground.”

“This ‘old’ ATM would have your thrusters spinning around in a circle, little robot.”

“Sounds like a challenge to me- what do you say we race around the entire Iacon sector, and whoever makes it back first is the winner?”

“Slingshot, will you stop showing off? Primus, you can be annoying,” Skydive remarked.

“No, check it out- Mr. ATM here thinks he has enough energon to whip a newer model like me into shape- let’s see him put his money where his mouth is.”

“You’re on.”

“Great! On my mark- ready, set…..Mark!”

Before he had even completed his transformation sequence, I was already in the air. We exited through a ceiling panel had been removed for skyward observation, and we headed in a straight line for the outermost point of the circle encompassing Iacon. As we were racing, I was also taking note of what I saw in terms of Decepticon presence- oddly enough, there was none. It was as if the place had been forsaken for greener pastures. As soon as we hit the point, we turned right and began the circle. It would take us a few thousand astro seconds to complete the entire circumference, but I’m sure we would have fun all the way. The Punk was in the lead- he took that first corner amazingly sharp and maintained hull resistance, which was pretty impressive. He was obviously going full thrusters, and that was a no-no. You never begin a race on full thrusters- you have to work up speed and maintain stability without burning yourself out too fast.

I let him get ahead of me for a few clicks. He was flying in and out of some of the temple steeples that had openings, and his maneuverability was impressive. Now it was time for me to turn on the juice. I began my closing in formation on him, then passing directly over him. My thruster outburst left him rattled, and deservedly so- someone had to teach this punk a lesson. At this point, we were half way around the circle- he caught up with me for a bit, but immediately fell back when I engaged my turbo thrusters on top of the standard ATM thrusters that my body cam prepared with- Kryos had made a few tweaks to my body to ensure I was still capable of decent flight and skill. We were at the three-quarter way mark now, and just for fun, I slowed down a little, got the punk in my sights, and did a few circles around him to show him I had a sense of humor. Of course, I’m sure he wasn’t laughing. After the fun, I immediately engaged turbo thrusters again, took the lead, and we had completed the circle- now back to the starting point. He was still a few clicks behind me when I transformed and landed.

When he finally arrived back at base, he had this look of horror and astonishment about him. Before he could open his yap, I offered my words first.

“Guess they don’t make em like they used to.”

“Har har, funny funny. Ok, you won this one TC. You just wait until next time.”

Azurite came over, extremely irritated. “Stop it! The both of you! Do you know how much your foolishness could have cost us? What if there had been Decepticons patrolling the area? Then what? You would have led them right here!”

“Az, that’s just it- there were none. I kept my scanners on full alert in case we were being watched. I sensed no Decepticon presence in the Iacon Sector at all.”

“Me Snarl bored. Me Snarl want to fight!” Typical Dinobot words of wisdom.

And then it hit us, literally. The first crushing wave of Unicron’s first blow into our planet knocked everyone on their thrusters. We tried to compute what was going on- was it a massive Decepticon raid? Even they wouldn’t have that much firepower to bring about the concussion we just experienced. Was the planet hit by a large asteroid? Had Vector Sigma self destructed? We had no idea. We scrambled to our feet to get out of the caverns- the walls and ceiling were literally caving in on us as we moved. There wasn’t time for thinking now; we just had to get out of there to try and comprehend what had just happened. On the way up, I muttered to Snarl “I think you just got your fight.”

It took us a good breem to get out of the caverns. Once we exited fully, the sight that captured our eyes left us speechless. We rose to higher ground to make sure our visual receptors weren’t playing jokes on us. Unfortunately for us, they weren’t.

We were watching the hand of an immense robot ripping into the surface of Cybertron. When I say immense, I’m using it as an understatement- you could have grouped together all the combiner teams, multiplied that by 100 and you still wouldn’t come close to the monstrous size of what was digging into our planet. Behind that hand was the face of its wielder- the devil god himself, Unicron. It was a sight I will never forget for as long as I exist. It was pure evil- not even the Decepticons in all their self righteousness could top this. It was destruction, the end, the totality of our race. It was Unicron.

Shockwave had initiated a planet wide red alert- all warriors were called to arms to try and defeat this thing that had taken another handful of the planet and destroyed it without so much as a gasp for power. The civilians were rushed to any spaceport base that was still operational to evacuate the planet. In this moment of possible annihilation of our race, factions and views didn’t matter anymore. There were no Decepticons or Autobots in the mental sense- we had all become one, fighting side by side to stop this creature of destruction. It was also in this moment that the force I thought I had lost came back- I wanted to fight, to defend my people from the end.

“Well, let’s not just stand here! We’ve got a planet to defend!” I said.

“And just how do you think we are gonna defeat that, old timer?” the punk asked.

“Not with that attitude, for sure. Come on, We all have flight capability- let’s get into the air which seems to be the safest place right now. There has to be some kind of weakness that we can exploit in that thing- nothing is 100% invulnerable. It’s our job to find that invulnerability and use it to our advantage.”

I could see the fear in my comrade’s visual processors as they stared back at me. It was a healthy fear, something of which I shared. I was scared, no doubt about it. I didn’t want to lose my home, my beloved, and my planet anymore than the rest of them. But I also realized that I needed to put the fear aside for awhile and concentrate all my efforts in trying to find a weakness on that thing, however fruitless or crazy it sounded.
“Follow me and stay in formation.”

We all jettisoned ourselves into clear space. My initial thought was to get inside the blasted thing and destroy it from the inside out, so I headed for the solar plexus section of Unicron. It also seemed to be the least guarded and least active in terms of combat- there were ships and ‘bots all over the place, concentrating firepower on any target they could find, but it was rather useless. Unicron simply could not be defeated that way. If we could get inside, cause as much trouble as possible, and get out, that might buy my people some time and save some lives.

We entered into a crevice that was right between the upper left thigh and the solar plexus. Jackpot, I thought. Of course, nothing was that easy. Unicron had an inner anti-body system that could detect the smallest intruder and eliminate it automatically. It was comprised of red tentacles with claws on the end that were virtually indestructible. The anti-body system managed to snag most of the Aerialbots, so it was up to me, Snarl, and Azurite to get them loose.

“Dinobot, now is your chance to shine. Hit em with everything you got!”

Snarl transformed into his dinosaur mode and immediately started kicking thruster all over the place. He let his wild, ferocious nature take possession of his actions, and to be honest, I was a tad bit afraid of getting to close to him. Using his spines, he managed to cut through most of the tentacles, freeing each Aerialbot one by one, and the freed bots then turned their firepower on the remaining tentacles in succession. Azurite was proving herself a warrior as well- her precise shooting was taking out the base of each spine, rendering the claw inanimate. Unfortunately, for every anti body that was destroyed, two more came to take its place.

“This is useless!” Azurite said, “Everytime we take one out another comes to repla-“
Before she could finish her sentence, a huge explosion went off in the corridor that we had entered. It looked like one of the ships had made a fairly nice dent in the outer hull of Unicron and then concentrated firepower on the inner hole they had created. Whatever they did, it was enough to totally shut down the anti bodies.

“Come on- I want to go deeper down this corridor to see what we find.”

“Deeper? Have you totally lost it old timer?” The punk asked.

“Shut up and move.”

“Do as he says, Slingshot. We might not be out of luck just yet,” Silverbolt added.

We moved slowly down the corridor- Unicron’s auto graviton field was losing integrity and the vacuum of space was slowly trying to suck us out. We hurdled over fallen claws of the anti bodies and finally made it to a cog chamber the size of the Nemesis. The cog wheel was going full power, and the constant grinding told us that Unicron was forcing himself to operate at a very low threshold- maybe my brothers and sisters outside were in fact making a difference.

“You know what that is? The main assembly and operation of his right leg. If we can somehow disrupt this assembly, we can give the bots outside a better chance at offing Unicron once and for all.”

“It looks like the main control grid is on the upper ceiling directly above the main cog wheel- and I believe there is only one way to get up there, but how are we going to get through the titanium casing?” Silverbolt asked.

“I have an idea,” I said, “Az- detach my sonic boom disruptor from my left arm. I’m gonna program it on a feedback loop that would destroy me totally if I kept it attached to my arm.”

“You sure about this, TC?” she asked.
“I’m willing to bet Prime’s matrix on it.” Had I known exactly what happened to Prime while we were up there, I never would have made that statement. Again, it was one of those things I didn’t learn about until after the end of the Unicron battle. Azurite removed the boom disruptor; I fiddled with the wires a bit, and set a 300 microsecond delay on it. “Ok, boys, you ready?”

“Aerialbots, combine to form Superion!” Superion delicately took the disruptor from me and placed it directly between the cog wheel placement unit and the main control grid.

“Ok, people, let’s move on it!”

Snarl, Azurite, and myself hitched onto Superion’s back plate for the ride out. He blew a hole from the inside out of the room we were in, and then quickly jettisoned out of the compartment. We were roughly 2 kilometers away from Unicron when the disruptor blew. We all turned around to watch the explosion. To our horror, it had little if no effect on the beast. His leg was jilted but he was still functional, even without total movement of the leg.

“Primus, what can we do now?” Azurite asked in horror.

“Snarl say we go rip devil apart- from the outside!”

“Let’s do it.”

We set a direct course for Unicron; no particular part of his body- we were just going to try and crack the beast from the outside. I knew it was delusional to think we might actually have an effect, but there was no way I was backing down, and if it took a dumb Dinobot’s stunted sentence to make me realize that, then so be it. We were roughly 500 feet from the nearest part of his body, which was the abdomen, when Azurite came to a full stop.

“Wait- look at that- do you see that?”

“What, commander Azurite?” Silverbolt enquired.

“Look at its chest- it looks as if something is exploding from the inside out. Look at the white light emanating out of the battle scars and cracks.”

“Sweet Primus- there is a battle going on inside the thing as well as outside!”

Suddenly, this purple and gray object was shot out from the side of Unicron and whisked right past us. It was traveling at a very high velocity, and if your visuals had blinked, you would have totally missed it. It was a transformer for sure, although not one I recognized at the time. It shrieked in pain and defeat as it flew by us. I was to find out later that this bot was the reconfigured Megatron, aptly named Galvatron.

“What was THAT?” Skydive asked.

“Never mind that- look at it- we better thrust our tails outta here fast! Come on, guys!” I motioned for all to join me in retreat from whatever was about to happen. We reached Cybertron’s orbit, and remained at a safe distance to witness Unicron explode from within. The explosion caused temporary blindness in all of our visual receptors, but we recovered in time to see two things: Unicron lay in a million different pieces in space. And we saw, for the first time, the rise of a new Autobot leader.

“That looks like……like Hot Rod? Wait, no, it can’t be.” Silverbolt said.

“Same color, bigger bot. Another leader. Me Snarl think it time to get back to Grimlock and other Dinobots.”

“Let’s all get back down on the planet,” I remarked.
We landed in the charred remains of Iacon- most of the city was still intact, but quite a few buildings had been torn to pieces. Azurite’s abode had been completely obliterated.

“Commander, I’m taking Snarl and the rest of the Aerialbots to the core plexus. I just received word that Hot Rod, or ‘Rodimus Prime’ as he is now called is to make an announcement.”

“Very good, Silverbolt. We will catch up with you shortly.”

Azurite and I stood among the wreckage and viewed it with heavy sparks. The total destruction of our home would either leave us wandering the streets for an inn or busy rebuilding everything that was lost. We chose the later- it would be a daunting task, but it would also give us purpose and meaning.

“You found it, Cracker.”

“Huh?”

“You found the inner warrior inside of you. You thought he was lost, but he was always there, just waiting to re-emerge for better reasons and intentions. You have found for your home and your brothers and sisters. You have put aside the differences that separated all of us and clearly did what was best for all. You found it.”

“I guess I did. I did find the other way. Let’s go hear what the new Autobot leader has to say for himself.”

As we were leaving, I noticed the image of Optimus Prime that Azurite had hanging on her wall. I picked it up- it was pretty charred and beaten, but for the most part, still intact and recognizable. I carried it with me in one hand, and Azurite’s graceful palm in the other.

“We will rebuild, my love. We will start anew. We will find another way.” With these words that I had spoken, it marked the other time I was most happy in my life, you know, the one I had talked about at the beginning of my little story.

We listened to Rodimus Prime as he officially declared an end to the 3rd Cybertronian War and ushered in a new Golden Age of Cybertron.

All of us, including myself, had found another way.

Very nice.

Sad in a way, but otherwise very good.

Originally posted by Kup1


Sad in a way

Not every story in real life ends disney style.