As a new guy in the sense of Fan Fiction, I thought I'd try and write my own from the eyes of a semi-important Transformer, rather than as Optimus Prime or Megatron. The concepts and designs only include three so far.
Starscream
Thundercracker and Skywarp
This is their Civilian forms. They haven't joined a faction yet. And instead of colors, they're all the same basic beige with an off gray color.

Former Bodies
This is their Autobot form. They have the same build with the exception of Skywarp being slightly thicker and they all have different colors. Other than that, this form is their current.

Current Form: These are their new Decepticon bodies that they'll all have for a while. Each is respective to their owner

This is their "Adlibbed" Superion Maximus form that is in Phase 2 Chapter 9 of A New Perspective, kindly done by Stonecrusher with some added details done by myself.

Old Magnum Crew

Phase 1-Chapter 1: Sky

It was years before the Great War had begun. Cybertron was still alive and prosperous; people were still able to talk to each other without the fear of being caught between two large sides in a war that would engulf the planet, and in later years, multiple others in the process. But hey, after all, this story focuses on the lives of three small individuals who would be pulled into the very same war. I was one of them.

I remember a brother of mine, young and spry, someone who wanted to make his mark on the universe. “Hey Thunders wait up! What’s the rush for? Got some place to be?” He was always a joker.

“No Scream I’m trying to get supplies, remember? You two are big enough that you don’t need me hangin’ around the place.” At times I’d have to tell him to stop following me, or hell, even just yell at him to go home, yet he never stopped.

“But what if one of us lights the place on fire?” The bot chuckled as he raised his hands and smirked.

“I hid the lighters and fluid from you guys months ago…” For some reason he always wanted to find a reason to either push my buttons or make himself sound better than me…

“…oh, yeah, I forgot about that.”

“Remember that? You and Sky almost burnt down the place and I had to call the fire brigade to come and put out the flames?”

“YESIREMEMBERTHAT!” He was a loud one. And hell just by my name you’d think I was the loud one, yet back then he’d yell more than anything, especially when it was to prove that he was right and I was wrong. “Well… I might as well just, leave you alone for a bit. Let you grab those supplies like you said.” He said as he ran away. I was the eldest out of three brothers. That one you saw? That was Starscream. The one he’s running back to and the one he mentioned earlier was Skywarp, the youngest of us ‘Seekers’ as we liked to call ourselves. And me? I’m just Thundercracker, but you know that already.
Anyhow I’d ‘grab’ some supplies and head back, and I remember a flyer and Scream cackling on about “THIS WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING!” and something of the like. I remember asking about it, he seemed rather fast to hide it.

“I-It’s nothing brother! Just, something I found when I was heading back! I thought I’d show Sky and, see how he felt…” He said it somewhat, like he was scared.

“Well, it sounds cool. But like, can you ensure that we won’t be put in harm’s way or something?” The last bot said, he had sharper wings and his chest cockpit was a little different compared to ours. This was Skywarp, at least before the accident.

“These Decepticon guys sound amazing! Maybe if I join I could be promoted! Just by joining!” Scream always did have some notion that he’d always be the best…

“Just ‘cause you can fly? Or because you think you can outmaneuver most air attacks even though I’ve got wider wings, more thrust and-“

“OK YOU’VE MADE YOUR POINT!” He also got very angry very easily. Well, maybe not angry, but irritated. “I still think it’s a smart ‘investment’ to join this group!”

“Really? Well, I picked up a flyer for these guys, the Autobots. Heard people at the market say they’re ‘great to their soldiers, pay well, and give you insignias and a paint job of your very own,’ think you wanna pass that up Scream?” At this point in the war the ‘Cons and ‘Bots weren’t large at all. They were both more or less just ideological groups who had somewhat opposing views. Neither side had a real leader by this point, but there was a certain bot known as Megatron with a liking for the idea of giving the Government to the people, putting it in our hands. The Autobots back then wanted a similar goal, but rather to root their way through the higher classes. So whereas Megatron and his Decepticons would want to take it by force, the Autobots wanted to do it without any form of real force, with their peacekeepers led by a police officer with very high credentials. I wanted to join the Autobots because, it’d give us some kind of purpose. But all Scream wanted to join the ‘Cons for was to feel high and mighty…

“W-Well, I want to join the Decepticons!” See?

“Maybe I should join the Autobots…”

“Maybe you should keep your trap, shut until Sky decides!” Oh jeez here it comes… this part always hurt remembering

“Well why don’t you! Give him some space!”

“Guys? Guys?! WHAT IN PRIMUS’ NAME ARE YOU BOTS DO-“ He fell. We were maybe 5-8 stories up and we let him fall. The thing is, you’d expect he could fly right? Well after that burning house thing we mentioned earlier, during that his thrusters were clogged with smoke and ash. We meant to have them cleaned out for him but… we didn’t have the money. He landed head first on the pavement, apparently his helm caught the curb of the sidewalk and almost shattered his head like glass… but he was gone in a flash of, what looked like, purple. His body landed on the floor above us, we heard a scream of horror and we ran up to check. And his body was just, laying there, motionless, leaking Energon into this nice family’s carpet. We called the medics and they took us off to the hospital… we wouldn’t leave for days, hell, maybe even a month…

 

Phase 1-Chapter 2: Homeward Bound

So where did I leave off. Oh yeah, Sky just got out of the hospital and we noticed he wasn’t acting like his normal self. It seemed like something was, off about him. I didn’t realize it until a few months after it that Sky had begun leaving all of a sudden.

“Scream, you seen Sky anywhere?”

“No, he left again.” He growled. “And yet I can’t seem to track where he’s going!”

“Well you have to remember after we got out of that damn hospital he hasn’t exactly been the same….”

“THAT WAS YOUR FAULT! IF YOU HADN’T SHOVED ME INTO HIM HE WOUL-“

“Um… what’s this about me?” He had shown up completely out of thin air, and that’s when we began to realize. Our brother had a gift…

“Y-You can teleport?!” Scream was, rather hysterical about it. “T-This is!”

“Great. Now that we know you can still move and such, I’m glad to know that you have some other way of getting around Sky.”

“Yeah, whatever. Frankly I don’t care what happens, as long as I keep learnin’ how to use this power and how I can apply it to other, things.” He said as he looked at his hand, his thumb was missing. “UH, THUNDERS WHERE’S MY THUMB?!”

“Um! I-I don’t know Sky, maybe it’s- oh there it is.” It was lodged in Scream’s back wing joint. Apparently Sky needed a bit more practice with holding himself together when it came to the whole teleportation thing. I grabbed it from the joint which apparently caused Scream to bend over backwards cause, apparently that was painful for him? I dunno, all I did was stick it back in Sky’s hand and let him “handle” the situation. Anyhow he fixed his hand and we went out to try and find some food, and we ran into another guy handing out Autobot recruitment flyers.

“Hi! Would you three like to enlist in the Autobot Peacekeeping Corps.? Our group can provide peacekeeping aid to all reaches of the cosmos while also making sure our brothers in arms are safe, kept clean and fed, and also held in a stable home with a stable income!” This guy wasn’t exactly the greatest at telling us the truth, but then again I already knew what I wanted.

“Thanks but I’ve already talked to a recruiter and I intend to join with my brothers.”

“Great! Thank you for joining the cause!” He seemed happy just to know we may see him again.

“I still don’t know how or why you talked us into joining the Autobots. You just want it for the money!” Scream was still rather bitter about my decision, but in the grand scheme I didn’t care.

“Scream, we’ve been stuck in that small apartment for years, it’s time we make some money and get out of there!”

“I-I actually agreed with Thunders on this, since I did, start to feel small in there.” Sky wasn’t great with decisions but I was glad he took my side on this.

“I’ll show you both just how big I can get in this “Peacekeeping Corps.” as that bot previously stated.” He trudged ahead of us and we found the place where we had to report to get refitted. Apparently the line was huge so, we had to wait a while…

 

Phase 1-Chapter 3: Time for a Change

After the line had somewhat shortened the three of us were one of the next bots to get refitted. “See, Scream? With this you can get a new paint job and a new body! This is exactly what we need.” I tried to be optimistic, well, most of the time.

“If that’s how you wish to phrase it. I- oh wait we’re next.” Scream seemed a little disappointed now, rather than bitter. I was first to go, so I stepped into the area labeled FLIERS. It seemed weird but when I walked in, there was a fembot with, a rather large chestplate.

“Welcome to the Autobots. How can I help you?” She asked. She seemed nice.

“I’m here for an upgrade miss.” I didn’t know how to handle a situation so, I simply stated the obvious.

“I can tell.” She walked over to a small control panel on the wall and tapped on it, four large mechanical arms coming down from the ceiling.

“So, what’re you looking for? Speed? Endurance? Firepower?” She asked so many questions…

“I’d prefer speed and accuracy over the other two.”

“Then speed it is.” She tapped the panel again and the arms came down with new wings, swept back ones. They took off my old wings and stuffed those onto the joints, for some reason they felt… different, which I guess I can assume, but still felt odd. Anyhow, next they lowered what looked like entirely new legs. “These’ll improve your flight, give you a little more… thrust.” She chuckled slyly as the arms lifted me up, completely took my old legs off and stuffed the new ones on. Now those legs felt a lot stranger than the wings. But they did feel… nice. I’ll just skip the unimportant details and such. As soon as I walked out of that room, she gave me a kiss on the cheek and I was in a secondary room, which looked stranger than the other.

“Excuse me? What room is this?” I shouted, hoping to get a response.

“This is the color room. Each robot that’s come through here’s gotten a personalized paint scheme! You look new, but that won’t be any trouble.” It was a nice male bot, leaning against a table with a small data pad on it.

“Your build looks like… a flier, so do you waanntt stealth camo? It’s all the rage. Or would you prefer a nice-“

“If I may, I think I’d prefer to choose the colors for myself… there were always a few that I thought would look good on me.”

“Such as?”

“Hm… blue as the main color, red as the secondary, with silver accents?” Ever since I saw those two colors, I always had a liking for them. Never knew why, maybe it was a sign or something. But still, those were what I chose. I stepped out of the room and, heh, they must’ve gotten the things wrong because I wound up being red with blue accents, but they did get the silver right. I had them fix is, and boy the look on Scream and Sky’s faces when I stepped out all nice and brand new, a bright red Autobot insignia on my shoulder and wings.

“Wooaahhh… nice change Thunders.” Sky said with a chuckle as I approached them.

“It, suits you unbelievably well brother…” Scream sounded happier now that I looked nice and shiny.

“Thank you both. You’re up Scream, don’t try to scare the ladies.” I was messing with him for the hell of it, but he laughed with me. Several minutes later, he too joined me in the main waiting area, he was gray with blue and red accents. “You look fantastic brother!” It felt nice to see us finally having something good happen to us.

“Thank you! My god it feels great to have a new body! Look! I have thrusters in my shins! My wings aren’t broken anymore! I can finally do some-thing….” He was cut off as steam arose from the colors area. I had forgotten to mention that as soon as Scream was in the color room, Sky had gone in behind him. We both looked at him with big, wide eyes as he stepped out. His colors were completely different from ours, black with purple and silver accents… “Sky, you look, different…”

“Yeah? What about it?”

“I never thought black was your color…” Scream didn’t seem to know Sky as well as I did, which was interesting.

“Yeah? Well no offense, but get used to it. I like this new bod’ and all, plus they built me for endurance and strength.” He was, slightly thicker than we both were.

“They built me for speed and accuracy, what about you Scream?”

“Firepower. Always thought I’d like using a gun rather than nothing.” He seemed a little proud. Finally, we belonged to something. No more were we just bots roaming the streets, stealing food and supplies from the market, no, we were Autobots now…

 

Phase 1-Chapter 4: First Trials

Where was I last time? Oh yes, the three of us had gotten our new bodies and boy did we feel brand new. But since we signed up to be Autobots, that meant we had to go through the training process.

“You think it’ll be easy Thunders?” Scream asked. He seemed somewhat excited to get to training.

“Maybe. Then again I don’t like to think things are easy without at least seeing the way things run. So just, be prepared alright Scream?”

“Yeah… ok Thunders, thanks…”

“Would ya both please shut up?” Sky growled at us, it looked like he was trying to sleep.

“Sorry Sky. See you both tomorrow.” And like that, we were out like lights.

Several hours later we arrived at the training facilities, which were a nice yellow-ish color on the outside. The insides were newly cleaned and all, almost as if they did it just for us. As we filed in we had to sign in, make sure we showed up and such, we wouldn’t be allowed to handle a weapon outside of the premises until we got certified. When we all filed into lines, there was utter silence. Maybe a few soft whispers that I didn’t hear, that was until an old blue and turquoise bot walked in front of us.

“ALRIGHT LISTEN UP PROTOFORMS! IN THIS FACILITY THERE ARE ONLY TWO RULES! DO NOT QUESTION ORDERS, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TAKE ANY WEAPONS OUTSIDE OF THE FACILITIES, AND DO NOT TRY TO START ANY FIGHTS WITH YOUR COMRADES!” For a bot his age he shouted especially well.

“B-But sir! That’s three rules!” A random bot down the line shouted. A few others closer to us saw them shake their heads and one even put his hand against his face. The bot walked towards him and, for the most part, beat the living spark out of him.

“Who is this guy anyhow?” I asked the bot next to me. His name was, Skyfire I think? No, it was Jetfire.

“That? That’s Kup. He’s been an instructor here ever since the Autobots began recruiting. He fought in a few battles before, that’s how he got so good at yelling.”

“Battles? Where?”

“Against some organic life forms. From what I’ve heard, organics are out to get races like us. Cybertronians I mean.”

“DID I HEAR SOMEONE MENTION ORGANICS?!”

“SIR NO SIR!” We all chanted, for my first day here, I really didn’t want to make a bad impression on the instructor.

“Hmph… most’a you young bots don’t know how important bots like heavy artillery and fliers are!” He shouted. He turned to the four of us, which caused all of us to straighten up and try not to lose it. “You four’re fliers! You bots should than your makers! Fliers these days are in… somewhat rare supply!”

“T-Thank you, sir?” The four of us awkwardly said in unison. The instructor snickered and began to walk away.

“Well he seems nice!” Scream said sarcastically to us as soon as Kup was out of sight. A few days passed and we finally got to weapons testing.

“Alright protoforms! Today is weapon day! You boys wanted to play with war machines well there you go! Be warned! Certain bots have certain preferenc-“

“This one feels weird!” It was Sky. This would not end well. While the instructor was yelling at my brother I was busy testing out my own array that I’d picked out. A few felt nice, a pistol or two, but none of them fit on my build. “You the clown’s brother?” It was Kup again.

“Y-Yes sir, is something the matter?”

“Other than the fact that he picked up a loaded weapon before I dismissed you all, no. Your build, haven’t seen anythin’ like it in decades.” He really was an old bot.

“Is that a compliment?”

“No. It’s me pointing out that you can’t physically use weapons like these. Builds like yours have next to no storage space, unless you want that gun up somewhere it shouldn’t be.”

“Do you have any alternatives?” I asked. Kup looked around and had a bot carry out a pair of rifles, but there weren’t any triggers.

“These’re Null Ray cannons. Little more firepower than your average rifle, and can be arm mounted. No trigger necessary.” Kup seemed a little proud of them. I offered to try them, but when I went to fire them they spun around and nearly clipped my wing. By the end of the 3rd week I was a sharp shot with the NRCs. Hell, they even gave Sky and Scream a pair to match. We were some of the fastest, strongest, and most accurate bots at the facility. It felt… nice.

 

Phase 1-Chapter 5: Aerial Consequences

The next phase of training we went through was the equivalent of the wheeled bots’ “endurance test”.

“ALRIGHT YOU FOUR, YOUR NEXT DRILL’S TO FLY THROUGH AT LEAST 10 OF THOSE 20 HOOPS!” Kup barked as he looked at Jetfire, myself, and my brothers.

“Doesn’t seem too hard…” Sky seemed so certain of himself…

“YOU MUST DO IT WITHIN 30-60 SECONDS OR ELSE YOU FAIL!” As soon as I heard Kup shout that, I could hear Scream and Sky’s jaws drop. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be too hard for me since I was faster and a lot more agile than my brothers, that and I had extra thrusters now, which would help me out a lot in the long run. “WHO WANTS TO GO FIRST?!”

“If I may, I could try.” Jetfire said as he stepped up. The thing we hadn’t noticed was his large backpack with two thrusters that were about the size of our chests. Those had to help him somehow.

“Alright then Fire. Starting the timer as soon as you step off that plate.” Kup said as he watched the rings appear, a countdown beginning on the nearby screen. As soon as the clock hit 0, he was off like a light. We all saw Jetfire take off and fly through the rings in precise order. As the timer neared the 35 second mark, we heard him activate his auxiliary thrusters and zoom through the last few rings, transforming and landing on the pad with 41.23 seconds on the timer. “Impressive! You almost beat this academy’s record of 40 seconds on the dot! Set by… Silverbolt.” Kup explained. “Alright you three, Fire passed the test, what about one’a you?”

“Yo, is teleporting allowed?” Sky asked, crossing his arms while he raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

“You think teleportin’s gonna save your skin in the field? What about if you’re injured and can’t ‘teleport’ away.” He asked, Kup sounded like he was getting irritated by hearing Sky try and question his authority. “Step up to the plate kid.” Kup ordered, pointing to the starting line. Sky growled and unfolded his arms, walking over to the starting line and dusting his feet off. He knelt down and pushed off the ground as soon as the timer hit 0. He went soaring through the air and transformed into jet mode, making it through the rings and landing on the pad with 35 seconds… but missed one of the rings.

“WHAT?! THIS HAS TO BE A TRICK I HIT THAT ONE!” Sky shouted in a fit of rage.

“Sorry kid! Seems not! Oh well, you would’ve beat the academy record if you had made that last one.” Kup chuckled a little as Sky walked back to us. I patted him on the back and told him he’d get it again next time.

“You, you’re up.” Kup was pointing to me. I looked at him and nodded as I stepped up to the pad myself. “You’re supposedly the lightest of the three. If you get this, then you’re the fastest in the academy.” Kup said reassuringly. I stepped up to the edge of it and knelt down a little, preparing for take off. My wings lifted up a little as the clock hit 0, and I was off. I passed through at least 3 of the rings before I transformed. I flew as fast as I could, pushing the body to it’s limits, 16.25 and counting seconds in. I felt a surge and I could feel my wings cutting through the air… as a sharp pain tore through my back section. I flew through the last ring with 28.46 seconds, but hit the ground with a loud thud. I was going so fast the air under my wings in fact tore them clear out of the sockets. I pushed myself too hard.

“THUNDERS!” I could hear my brothers shout.

“Hold it! The test’s gotta get finished. Last one’s you Scream, sooner you do this, sooner you can go and help him.” Kup said as he heard the medics running towards him.

“BUT HE’S MY BROTHER!”

“HE WOULD WANT YOU TO FINISH THE DAMN TEST, NOW GET IT OVER WITH BEFORE I PUT MY BOOT SO FAR UP YOUR AFT YOU’LL SEE LUNA 1!” Kup shouted.

“YOU CAN DO IT SCREAM! I GOT-FAITH IN YOU!” I barked up to him. I wanted to make sure he could do it, so I gave him every ounce of faith I had. He walked to the pad and knelt down, his eyes locked on the rings. As soon as the clock hit 0 he went off even faster than Sky and I had. He went zooming through each ring with ease, his engines roaring as they shot him forward. As soon as he was done, he landed on the pad and transformed, running past Kup and Jetfire to go see me.

“Sir? What was his time?” Fire asked.

“…we’re gonna have to change that plaque.” Kup said as he ran after the two, Fire right behind him. That injury kept me grounded for a few weeks, and to this day it still acts up. But I try not to let it get to me, especially since I still try to make myself useful. I don’t know if Scream ever found out that he broke Silverbolt’s record time, but if he did, I’m glad that he did it because it was for my sake.

 

Starscream and co are very compelling characters. There's so much a writer can do with him beyond the simple Traitor archetype. This is a cool take.

 

Thank you! I thought that characters like these three were always underused in ways that weren't the standard "I'm the best, follow me!" and "Yes sir!" kind of activity. I thought it'd be different, so I appreciate it  

 

Phase 1-Chapter 6: Healed Wounds

By the time I had returned to the academy, my wing was reattached and fully healed up. I heard Kup and Jetfire talking about how Starscream had broken the record with almost a full 3 seconds to spare. I could only chuckle, because I had a feeling that if Starscream knew, he’d let it go to his head.

“Ah, our wounded warrior returns!” Kup seemed somewhat happy to see me. “You're just in time. Target practice.” Kup said as multiple targets bounced up. “These targets are enemy combatants! Your job is to hit 8 out of all 10 of them. There isn't a time limit… this time.” Kup chuckled as two bots walked up to the desks and drew their weapons. One had a pistol, the larger one had a rifle. The bot on the left kept jamming his blaster, while the guy with the rifle kept holding the trigger and moving it from side to side, hoping to hit a target. In the end both failed because they ‘didn't do what was right’ even though Kup neglected to tell us what was right and what was wrong when using a blaster. Anyhow, Starscream and Jetfire were next.

“Good luck, Jetfire.” Starscream seemed overly confident today.

"Thank you, I wish that same luck upon you.” Jetfire said, he hadn't noticed the tone in Starscream’s voice was a snarky sarcastic one, but then again, Jetfire always tried to see the best in people. The two of them stepped to their desks and drew. Starscream had a single Null Ray out and tried to one hand the targets, whereas Jetfire had his giant bazooka looking gun aimed at every target that popped up. He fired at all of them and got chest shots on them, I think it’s because the projectiles were so large that if they missed they’d still take the target’s head off. Starscream hit all 8 of the targets, but only because he was trying to use both Null Rays now.
Next up was Sky and I. I stepped to my desk and raised both Null Rays, whenever a target would pop up behind another I'd aim them both so the concentrated blast would slice through both. I took out my targets, and I saw Sky was beginning to get frustrated.

"Sky? You alright?” I was concerned.

“No Thunders! I'm not!” He shouted as he teleported into the training area and used the null rays as arm mounted blunt weapons, beating the targets as compared to shooting them. He appeared in his booth and walked past me. “Now, I'm fine.” He growled at me as he walked away. I was concerned for my youngest brother, I didn't want him to not be happy just because of me. But I knew he'd adapt, he just had to.

“Thundercracker. You know you still have to finish the rest with Skywarp, correct? Otherwise you can't graduate with the rest of us…” Jetfire seemed genuinely concerned for us even though we had never met him before. Guess that's what training camp does to people.

"Can you remind me what the graduation is?”

"It's a mock war zone.”

“ITS A WHAT?!”

“A mock, war zone. He splits all of us into different squads, and he puts us all in different scenarios. At the end of the map there’s a flag that we have to grab to pass. There's a time limit as well, so if we don't do it within the time limit, we fail and have to do it again. But you only get one redo.” This test seemed like the hardest thing we’d accomplish in our tenure of being in the Academy.

"That sounds interesting. And how're the teams split up? All fliers and such?" I asked, I thought I could get away it with since I wanted nothing more than to fight with my brothers.

"Sadly no. The system is one flier per squad, and since there are 4 of us, 4 squads." Jetfire explained the entire system to me. We'd be going up against automated droids that would fire back but would only stun us. It sounded like it'd be fun. Then again I thought that flying with a bad wing was fun...

"Well then, best of luck. I have to redo my test with Skywarp." I said as I turned around and started to walk away. I arrived and Kup was recording Skywarp's time. He landed just as I arrived. "Hey Skywarp, how'd you do?"

"Barely made it. But I got all the damn rings this time." He growled as he brushed past me and kept walking.

Meanwhile I stepped up to the plate and readied myself. "Remember kid… don't push yourself too hard…" Kup said as he started my clock. I landed with about 47 seconds on the clock, both Skywarp and Starscream had beaten me. But at least I didn't break my wing this time.

 

Phase 1-Chapter 7: New Paths

To put it short, we had completed all of the basic training for our tenure at the academy. If we graduated, we were to be assigned to a new unit. We had been split into our teams and I had time to get to know them.

“So, what’s your name?” I asked a small, green-ish bot.

“I-I’m Glyph.” The small female said. She seemed shy and slightly scared of me.

“I’m not gonna hurt you. As an FYI. And you are?” I asked another bot with a flame on his chest.

“Name’s Stepper. I’m the team’s speed demon. Well, then again, now that you’re here I guess you could call me the GROUND speed demon.” The young bot chuckled as he spun his pistols around. “That’s Tap-Out. He’s our strongest. I’m the fastest on the ground, and Glyph? She’s our secret weapon.” Stepper chuckled as he looked at her. “Show ‘im Glyphy.”

She nodded and stood up, holding her arms out and wiggling my wings without me even knowing. She chuckled as she watched them move around. “I have Telekinesis.” She said as she sat back down.

“She can pick up things, smash things, create things with said picked up things, and so much more.” Tap-Out said as he leaned against the wall.

“So, how’re you gonna fit in with us?”

“I’m…” I said as I clenched my fist and stood up confidently. “I’m Thundercracker. I’ll be your eye in the sky, plus with these Null Ray Cannons, I can take out quite a few enemies with a single shot from both. Just give me an order, and watch me follow it.” I felt determined to graduate.

“Well then. We’ve got practice in the morning, so let’s get some shut eye before we start working.” Stepper said as he laid down in his cot. I found mine and laid down in it as well, I knew I’d help these guys, and I knew we’d all pass. We went through weeks of training and practice before it came time for our final test at the Academy.

In the afternoon, we were the last team on the field. I immediately was ordered to recon the sky, which I nodded and followed. “Ok you all, I’m seeing 6 bogeys to the north, 4 are lightly armed with two turret gunners. Permission to fire upon them once I get a clear shot?” I asked my teammates through the comms. I could see them rolling towards the nearest barricade and hide behind it.

“You have permission to begin bombing procedures as soon as you have the opportunity. We can provide cover fire for you while you charge your cannons. Kup, are we given how many people we have to kill?”

“You all’ve got 30 targets to take care of, y’all are seeing 6. Do the math Stepper.” Kup ordered.

“Yes sir!” Stepper growled as he got a few headshots on 3 of the bogeys.

“Glyph! Use that pillar as a bat!”

“Y-Yes sir!” I could see her tear the large bit of rock clear off it’s base and just swing it at the rest of the bots, taking them out. “T-Thundercracker?! Can you blow up the b-block I made?” She asked me as I made my final pass.

“Can do…” I growled as I locked on and fired two powerful shots at the pillar, destroying the bit of rock with ease. I transformed and landed behind the squad, and had already noticed 4 other targets were dead thanks to the rocks. “Looks like an even 10 now boss…” I stated as we entered the area. It was a temple like area, looked like a pyramid on the inside. We moved towards the center and heard movement underneath the main floorboard.

“Shh… keep low, find somewhere to hide. We can draw them out…” Stepper ordered. We scrambled and hid behind a few rocks before he hit the button to trigger the middle elevator. The sounds of confusion echoed from the droids as over 15 of them piled onto the elevator. “Ready…” Stepper sounded like he had a plan. “NOW!” He barked. We all popped out from the rocks and opened fire on the droids, most of them falling from the sheer force of the attack. Most of them fell, but there were 5 missing.

“So boss? Where’re the last five?” Tap-Out asked as he crossed his arms. We heard the elevator go back down and we all turned around. “That, can’t be good.” He wasn’t wrong. Because the thing on the elevator was more than three times our sizes. “YUP, I WAS RIGHT!” Tap-Out shouted in fear, even I took a step back from it. It was, large, and an off tan color with white and gray stripes. It had a giant claw on it’s back, and even it’s face was a strange rectangular shape. And whenever it swung it’s arm, I swear I saw a faint D10 on it’s back.

“TAP-OUT HELP GLYPH THROW SOME CHUNKS AT THIS THING! THUNDERCRACKER TRY AND GET OUTSIDE! CAN YOU GET A ROCKET LINED UP WITH THIS THING FROM THE OUTSIDE?!” Stepper barked at me as I dodged an arm.

“I-I can try!” I barked as I transformed and gave the monster a face full of afterburner as I shot out of the pyramid. I flew around the pyramid and
began to charge my cannons for an interior blast.

Meanwhile Glyph was picking up rocks and throwing them at the monster. It let out an ear piercing roar which caused her to fall, breaking her concentration. Tap-Out saw her and tried to wake her up while Stepper distracted the thing. “HOW MUCH LONGER ON THAT SHOT THUNDERCRACKER?!”

“GIVE ME A FEW MORE SECONDS!” I shouted as I flew around and flew outwards.

“What is he doing…” Kup said as he watched me fly towards what seemed like the edge of the map. I transformed, pressed my feet against the wall and shot off, a loud boom being heard as I zoomed through the air. My cannons dinged as they had charged. I stuck my legs out and aimed at the monster, my cannons aimed DIRECTLY at the monster’s face and chest as I unleashed a powerful blast on it. It screamed and howled in agony as it began to melt and, within seconds, exploded from the immense heat and the attack. I panted and stood up from where I landed, turning to see Stepper laughing and cheering for me. Glyph and Tap-Out were clapping as well. As scary as the entire thing was, I thought it was fun.

“You bots just set a BRAND NEW RECORD FOR THE ENTIRE DAMN ACADEMY!” Kup shouted through the mic.

“He did it!” Starscream said happily to himself.

“Of course he did Starscream… after all, he is our brother.” Skywarp chuckled as he and Starscream hugged, Skywarp being the one who hugged him even though you’d never expect him to.

We all assembled on the steps of the Academy, each of us getting a medal of certification. “You all came into this academy a mere few months ago, and have already proven yourself capable of fighting any enemy on the battlefield. Wherever you all end up, I wish you good luck and safe travels on your adventures elsewhere.” Kup said happily, saluting all of us. We all saluted back and the three of us met up near the back of the party.

“So, do you know where we’re being reassigned?” Skywarp asked. “You were the one in charge of figurin’ that out, Thundercracker.” He said.

“Yeah, we’re supposed to be extracted by a bot naaammeedd… Mmmagnum. Magnum.” I said. That bot would one day become Ultra Magnus, but then again, that wouldn’t be for quite some time. “Magnum’s supposed to meet us tomorrow to pick us up, and we’ll meet him and his team tomorrow afternoon.” I explained to them.

“Well my brothers? Then let’s enjoy the last night here!” Starscream laughed. We all threw our glasses up in happiness. Finally, we were on the road to progression.

 

Phase 2-Chapter 1: A Fresh Start


The three of us, Starscream, Skywarp and I, were in a dark room. It felt like forever before a light opened into the darkness. In reality, that darkness was just a troop transport shuttle. We had been assigned to a new squad under the command of a bot named Magnum, who as I stated last time, would one day take the mantle of Ultra Magnus. But anyhow, we arrived at the camp and already we felt like strangers.

“Ah! You three must be the Seekers!” A gray, red and blue bot shouted as he ran over to them. “Name’s Magnum, I’ll be your commanding officer while you all are here. Our base is, relatively small. I’ve already given you three a shared area that you can move in and rest easy in. Make sure to make yourself known to the others, that way we don’t have anyone asking too many questions.” The bot said with a smile as he walked away to tend to more deeds.

“So Thunders, what now?” Sky asked.

“What do you mean? We’re Autobots now, we passed and all. Now we just gotta wait until we get some action.” I explained to him. He, like Starscream before the Academy, sounded like he didn’t want to join. “C’mon you two. This’ll be fun!”

“GANGWAY!” A silver bot shouted as he zoomed past the trio, he was being chased by a blue and yellow truck.

“GET BACK HERE TREADSHOT!” The yellow and blue truck shouted as he zoomed after the other.

“Well? Wanna ‘introduce’ ourselves?” Starscream suggested sarcastically as we all walked towards one of the more populated tents.

“Hey! New guys! You all must be those Seeker guys Magnum’s been tellin’ us about. I’m Ranger, nice to meet you all.” A red and gray bot said as he shook all of our hands. “If there’s one thing this team’s missing, it’s air support. Most of our guys are all ground units.” He explained as we followed him through the tent. “This here’s Signal Flare. He’s our energy and weapons guy.”

“Nice to meet ya!” The red, beige and blue bot said as he waved his arm, the gun one. “Don’t mind the arm. It won’t go off, least not while I like ya.” He chuckled. The three of us snickered a little as we continued on.
“This one’s Apelinq. He’s-“

“If you don’t mind I’ll introduce myself thank you. Hello you three, as you already know, my name’s Apelinq. I’m Magnum’s second-in-command and our tactician. If you need anything, let me or Magnum know.” I had to admit, Apelinq looked strange. But never the less we continued on.

“Hey, what’s that thing for?” Sky asked as he pointed to a large hanger.

“Ooohhh, big mistake buddy…” Ranger said as he walked the three of us over to the hanger. He opened it and whistled into it. “Wake up Halonix. We’ve got new teammates!”

“Ugh… would it kill ya to knock?” The colossal robot groaned as he stared at us.

“Where did you all find a bot that size?!” Scream asked.

“They didn’t find ME at all new guy, I volunteered for this gig. So, you three’re fliers eh?” He asked us. “Who’s your squad leader.” He growled.

“I-“

“I am sir. My name’s Thundercracker, these two are Starscream and Skywarp. They’re my brothers.”

“Never met a bot with a name like Starscream with a purple and black paint job.” The giant laughed as he looked down at Skywarp.

“I’M SKYWARP YA LOOSE COGGED SLAGHEAD!” He barked angrily.

“Woah woah! Calm down kid, I’m only messin’ around!” Helonix laughed again.

“I’ll make you choke on something OTHER than laughter!” Sky growled.

“Easy Sky! We don’t want to make enemies of our own team now do we?” I asked him. He began to calm down and eventually remained silent.

“Ah, it was nice meetin’ ya guys anyhow. Remember, I’m Halonix, the giant in the shed!” He laughed as the four of us exited his ‘domain’.

“Ah you guys’ll fit in just fine. Don’t worry about a thing. Oh, and those two bots who nearly ran ya over? That’s Treadshot and Dion. Those two always try to kill eachother.”

“Alright boys, tomorrow’s a big day. We’ve got reports of a Decepticon supporter group that’ll be holding a public assembly tomorrow. We’re on guard duty.” Magnum said as he entered the compound again. The three of us heard bots from all corners of the camp groan in agony.

“Guard duty again? When’re we gonna get some actual BATTLE time?!” Signal Flare shouted.

“Hopefully that little outburst won’t jinx it. Can it Flare.” Apelinq ordered as he walked towards Magnum. “The new guys’ve gotten to meet everyone so far. I think it’s time we let them crash for the night boss.” The gorilla-esque bot said as he walked past Magnum.

“Understood.” He whispered. “So you three, you’ve met your comrades and you’ve seen what they do and what they pack. Now you can see where you’ll be sleeping for the night and, hopefully, for quite a long time.” He said as he showed them to their bunks. Three cots were arranged for them in a single tent. “These’re your cots. Treat them with respect.” Magnum said. We all piled into the tent and sighed as we sat on the cots.

“Softer than the beds back home…” Sky said as he laid down.

“Yeah… like a pillow… or a fresh case of nucleon.” Scream sighed as he laid down as well.

“Alright boys… let’s make sure we’re up and ready for tomorrow.” I said to them as I joined them in laying down. There was a small hole in the tent, but through it I could see the stars above us. Some were dim, others were brighter. And then I saw three of them, perfectly aligned in a row, all the same brightness…

 

Phase 2-Chapter 2: The People’s Keepers.

“So here’s the plan. Currently we have multiple posts that need guards and a few that already have been volunteered for by Autobots in other areas of the city. We’re taking the west, southwest, and southeast points of entry. We’ll be guarding them with Signal Flare and Treadshot. They’re gonna watch our backs. Meanwhile Magnum will make sure to watch all the exits with the commander from the East Autobot branch. Meanwhile I’ll be dealing with the local authorities, their commander being Orion Pax.” It was bright and early, the sun was beginning to break the horizon as Apelinq told us all the plan of ‘attack’ for the Decepticon rally.

“Yo! Pax’s gonna be there?!” Treadshot seemed somewhat excited about hearing the name of the soon-to-be Prime.

“Yes Treadshot. Orion Pax is in charge of civilian trafficking, that way no one with any firearms gets inside the rally to make a mess out of things.” Apelinq responded.

“This oughta be fun.”

“And what about us? We’re a part of the team too ya know.” Starscream seemed slightly irritated. I guess it was because he woke up on the wrong side of the cot.

“You three are our eyes in the sky. You all can hover yes?”

“Yeah.That was a feature our old bods didn’t have.” Skywarp mentioned.

“Then you three will be hovering above the rally in the clouds. Make sure to keep an eye on everyone and thing that moves in that square. Otherwise we could have a situation…”

“Ah quit your worrying. It’s times like these I’m grateful that we don’t get action. Otherwise we’d be outnumbered by several hundreds.” Ranger laughed as he patted Apelinq on the back. “So, where am I?” He asked.

“You’re on the third post, southeastern one. You’ll be one of the only with an obvious gun since we need someone to be armed.” Apelinq said as he handed Ranger a rifle. “Single shot, reload after each. You should be fine if you keep your finger off the trigger.”

“Woah. Thanks boss, I can work with this…” He smirked as he held the rifle up.

“I just spoke with Dai Atlas, the commander of the East Branch. He’s good on our plan.” Magnum said as he entered the base. “So, who’s ready to move out?” He asked with a grin. The camp erupted with cheers as they ran past us and transformed, the dust swirling behind them.

“So brothers? Shall we take flight?” Scream asked, raising his arms with a sly grin on his face.

“Let’s.” I said as we transformed and boomed after them.
The crowd was booming as soon as we arrived. We already noticed our guys in position, and saw Magnum with that Dai Atlas guy he mentioned earlier. “Remember, stay in hover above the clouds.” I reminded my brothers as we flew above the clouds, disappearing out of sight.

“DO YOU LIKE BEING SHOVED DOWN?! DO YOU ENJOY BEING WATCHED OVER BY THESE SO CALLED ‘PEACEKEEPERS’?!” A speaker shouted from the podium. “These Transformers claim to maintain the peace of this world yet they prove that they’re TRYING TO BE BETTER THAN US! NO MORE SHOULD WE HAVE TO ABIDE BY THE LAWS DICTATED BY THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT! NO LONGER SHOULD WE HAVE TO BIDE OUR TIME WHILE OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE ARRESTED AND THROWN IN THE SLAMMER FOR DEEDS THAT ARE DEEMED ‘UNLAWFUL’ AND ‘UNJUST’!”

“This guy’s really gettin’ on my nerves…” Ranger growled as he stared down at the crowd.

“Stick to the plan Ranger. Do not fire unless someone attacks one of us first.” Apelinq ordered through the comm channel.

“Yeah… no promises.” He growled.

“My brothers and sisters! Today we’re honored with a presence, one of which is seen as highly sought after. Today, we’re joined… BY MEGATRON HIMSELF!” The speaker shouted as a large, gray Transformer stepped out from the shadows.

“It can’t be…”

“No…”

“Slag it I’m taking the shot.” Ranger growled furiously as he loaded his rifle and laid down in his space.

“RANGER! DO NOT FIRE ON ANY OF THEM! THAT IS A DIRECT ORDER!” Magnum shouted through the comms.

“YEAH?! AND IF HE’S STILL ALIVE THEN GUESS WHAT, SO’S THIS IDIOTIC CAUSE!”

“Just because YOU think they’re stupid doesn’t mean they ARE! Now unload that goddamn rifle before I have you COURT MARTIALED!” Magnum barked at him. By then Ranger had already taken out his comm piece and was now aiming at Megatron’s helm as he walked towards the podium.

“C’mon you gray bucket of bolts… say somethin’... I dare ya…” He said as he cocked the bolt and readied himself.

There was a bang… and then silence...

 

Phase 2-Chapter 3: Consequences

Of course, the shot missed. Well, his head anyways. Megatron took the bolt to the shoulder, but it didn’t do as much damage as it could have, thanks to the armor he was wearing. Unfortunately for Ranger, when all the Con supporters turned to see who shot their ‘glorious leader’, they saw a bot wearing the Autobot badge. There was a massive riot… which wasn’t a pretty sight to see… By that point we had all returned to base camp, most of us were battered and bruised, hell, even Starscream’s arm was torn off. We were all in our tents, except the boss and Ranger, and it didn’t take even the greatest of hearing to know that someone was leaving the group today.

“THAT’S IT RANGER!” Magnum barked at him. “NOT ONLY DID YOU ATTACK AN UNARMED OFFICIAL DURING A PUBLIC CEREMONY BUT YOU DID SO AGAINST ORDERS!! HAVE YOU NO IDEA WHAT KIND OF HYSTERIA YOU’VE PUT US IN THE MIDDLE OF?!”

“I’m SORRY SIR! BUT, just hearing them all! Chanting his name! Clapping, cheering for him?! IT MADE ME SICK!” Ranger shouted back at him

“BUT IT IS NOT YOUR CALL ON WHETHER OR NOT TO KILL ANYONE!” Magnum snarled in his face as Ranger began to die down.

“I-I get that sir! Just, ugh. Can you let me off the hook this ti-!” We could easily hear what happened. Scream, Skywarp and I peeked out of the tent flap and already we saw Ranger trying to get up. Apparently so were the others.

“Don’t get up…” Apelinq said in his tent, he shared it with Signal Flare, who’s visor was cracked and his gun arm somewhat twisted up. Ranger sure enough got back up and stood in attention in front of Magnum like nothing fazed him.

“You just shot, basically? A civilian, and you shot to kill. And you’ve got the absolute GALL to ask me to let you off with, what, a warning? A cut on your badge? Something to say ‘Hey boys! This guy’s MESSED UP ONCE ALREADY!’ is that what you want Ranger?!” Magnum growled as he looked down at Ranger. “…you’re off the team.”

“WHAT?!” Ranger barked. We all gasped a little but kept watching it transpire. “YOU CAN’T JUST DO THAT TO ME SIR I’M A SOLDIER THERE’RE PROTOCOLS!”

“And as your commanding officer I am relieving you…” He said as he grabbed a knife and slashed Ranger’s Autobot insignia so it fell off. “…of duty.”

“…Know what? You wanna be all high and fraggin’ mighty? Alright Mag. I’ll play your game. Just know something? You just made a big, mistake.” Ranger growled as he transformed and zoomed off, kicking dirt and dust into the air as he continued. Magnum watched him and then turned to the tents to see all of the flaps close simultaneously. He growled and stormed towards Treadshot and Dion’s tent. He grunted and flung open the flaps, both were sitting on their cots, reading some books.

“Commander? Something wrong?” Dion asked as he sat up.

“…no, nothing’s wrong you two…” He growled as he closed the tent. In reality they had scrambled to grab some stuff and immediately jumped into their cots as soon as they heard Magnum getting closer. Once they were in the clear they relaxed and groaned as they laid back.

The next morning we were all called outside into formation. We all stood in attention before we saw Magnum walk towards us.

“Now I know. Yesterday, we had a teammate leave our ranks. Ranger, one of our better marksman, fired upon an unarmed civilian target with intent to kill. I want to make it clear to all of you, that you do not kill anyone, or take any shots, without Apelinq, or my permission. Is that understood?” He asked as he walked down the line.

“SIR YES SIR!” We all shouted.

“Then I want you all to welcome our team’s newest replacement. Her name’s Red Alert. She’ll be our team’s newest medic, which I realized we needed especially after last night

“BUT WHAT ABOUT MR. HANDY?!” Dion said as he pointed to an old, worn out droid with a few servos missing. “He’s been the team’s medic since forever! You’re gonna just replace him?!”

“Mr. ‘Handy’ as you call it isn’t sentient Dion it’s a droid, remember that.” Magnum said sternly as he turned around to see dust being kicked up in the air. A red and white van hover towards them. The van transformed into a sleek fembot with a lab coat styled uniform, a rather large hat, and a gun for a forearm. “Everyone, meet Red Alert.” Magnum said.

“I must say your crew is very much in need of some… repairs, Magnum. When you requested for my transfer I thought it’d be for general maintenance but now I see you all are in dire need…” She said as she walked in front of me, actually.

“What’s your name blue boy?”

“Thundercracker, ma’am.” I said.

“Ahh, this one’s the commander of the three isn’t he?” She asked with a giggle as she inspected my wings. “You’re first blue boy.” She laughed as she dragged me to the table that would become the med bay. She seemed nice, for a woman I did LITERALLY just meet…

 

Phase 2-Chapter 4: More Beginnings

“Alright M, wanna see your boys?” Red Alert asked the boss. We were all inside one of the larger tents waiting for her.

“Uh, sure? I don’t know what you mean by that Red Alert.” Magnum seemed somewhat absent minded by our missing selves.

“Well, I got you the best gift ever!” She threw off the door and inside we were all standing in formation, our armor was nice and polished, our badges shimmered and gleamed, our wounds and dents were buffed and treated, we all looked like we rolled right off the assembly line. Magnum walked in front of us and examined each and every one of us. He smiled at first, but when he got to Halonix he beamed brightly.

“Well I must say! This is a nice surprise! I take it you all thanked the lovely medibot here for her help?”

“Oh slag I forgot to…” Skywarp gulped as he stepped out of line and walked over to her. “T-Thank you ma’am for fixing my dented wing and cracked cockpit, and for reapplying my silver highlights.” Skywarp said, literally everyone’s mouths were open as he said it.

“It’s no trouble at all…” The fembot said as she looked up at Skywarp, who turned around and stepped back into line without hesitation. Everyone minus myself, Starscream, Magnum and Red Alert all looked in astonishment. Apparently none of them have talked to her outside of just the med bay… which was surprisingly, strange. We all disbanded and the three of us walked back into our tent.

"Jeez Skywarp! You've got some real jets to do that!" Treadshot said as they dispersed.

"Yeah! Man she's so nice, wish a girl like her would actually LIKE me." Dion said as he noticed me and kept walking.

"It's nothing really." Sky said as he, and the rest of us, entered our tent.

“So Sky, got any feelings for that medic?” Star asked bluntly

“She’s nice, Scream. But don’t get any ideas. I’m just her teammate.” Sky growled at him as he laid down in the cot for a nap.

“You two do that. I’m gonna… go take a flyby.” I wanted to clear my head. The joint on my back still hurt from my accident back at the Academy. I had to stretch otherwise it was gonna bug me the entire time I slept. I stepped out of our tent and made my way a little bit far from the camp, as not to disturb anyone. I sighed as I felt the cool breeze against my armor, it felt relieving… I jumped into the air, hit alt mode and boomed off. The wind up there felt even better against my wings as I cut through the air better than before. It felt amazing to be in the air, it was one of the few places I could enjoy… at least that’s what I thought… I was too busy to notice the bolt of energy that was shot that clipped my wing and sent me plummeting into the ground...

 

Phase 2-Chapter 5: A Change in View

I awoke to pitch black, seeing nothing in front of me but some slivers of light shining through what I thought was either dirt, or my cot's cozy covers... it turned out to be neither. It was a blindfold actually. Apparently, when I had been shot down, it was done by Decepticon supporters who noticed a lone Autobot flying around. I think they were taking me to one of their facilities or, something of the sort. I heard engines and felt the walls of a truckformer or, something, wherever I was being held, as it bounced me up and down inside it. I couldn't feel a few things while I was in there: my legs, my wings, and my attachment to my guns. I was utterly useless. Several hours passed and the truck finally stopped. I felt something, it sounded a lot like relief. That was until they opened up the back of the truck and grabbed me, tossing me into what felt like mud and picking me back up.

"Filthy little AutoBYTE!" One of them shouted before he kicked me in the chest. I felt a sharp pain as it happened, his foot cracked my cockpit.

"C'mon, get movin'. We ain't got all day to take prisoners." A second one laughed.

"P-Please, my legs I-I can't move!" I pleaded to them. I tried to be strong so I could be reassured my brothers would find me... but it was faltering.

"Then we'll just have'ta carry ya." The two laughed as they hoisted me up. I growled at the sharp pain in my legs, I could still feel them, but for some reason they refused to respond to me. They carried me into a camp, much like my own but smaller. I looked around and saw multiple bots, a blue and white robot was twirling his guns. He pointed one at me and pretended to fire, chuckling a little as we continued. I saw a blue and gray robot with purple wings, standing next to another one who had silver, blue and white as his main colors. Then, we got to the largest tent. The two guards dropped me and I looked up and saw feet. I'd recognize those feet for years to come... they belonged to what the Decepticons call 'Predator Class'. He was their commander, and his name was Skyquake.

"Weelll isn't this a lovely surprise. You two finally shot something down and brought it back alive..." His voice was smooth yet it sent chills down my back. "Now then... what's your name, friend?" I didn't know what to do. He seemed like he was being nice to mock me and make me look weak.

"Sentinel Prime." I growled back at him.

"Oh... a feisty one eh? Well, we'll just have to break you of that habit won't we... Turmoil?" He turned around and a black bot walked beside him, a gun for an arm, the only other accents on his body were the blue trails of Energon, and his bright red optics. "If you could show this poor soul to the infirmary to have his legs patched up, I'd... appreciate, it." Skyquake was obviously hiding a chuckle in his voice...

"Certainly." The large bot grabbed me by the hole that was kicked into my cockpit. I let out a growl of, well, pure agony. He carried me to the tent and threw me onto the table. "The doctor will see you now..." He laughed as he turned and walked out of the tent. I panicked, I looked around, my eyes raced as I tried to find this 'doctor' he was talking about. Then, I saw another black robot, but this time with red Medic logos and accenting all over his body. He was humming something... I couldn't make it out. All I did was stare, until he acknowledged me.

"So! You're the bot those brutes managed to drag in. Welcome to my lab, I know it's next to nothing compared to your Autobot technology, but I make do with what I have." He chuckled as he examined my broken areas. "They hurt you! My my my I'm so sorry! You're such a work of art, I thought they'd at least want to make it easier on themselves by keeping you ambulatory!"

"Y-Yeah well, it's nothing... I know my friends'll come get, me..." I froze in fear. The doctor's expression went from complete truth, to what seemed like utter hatred.

"Your friends...?.... they'll never, find you..." And with that, I felt something hit my face, and I saw black once again...

 

Phase 2-Chapter 5: No Escape?

I woke up in a haze, only remembered the good medic of the Decepticon Camp I was in knocking me out cold... so I decided to try and look around, stand up, see if my legs were fixed. Well, they were, just as the doc said he would. I shook them around and poked my head out of the tent. For some reason there weren't any guards.... which seemed strange enough as it was. So I did what any normal POW would do, try and escape! So I transformed and tried to fly out... turned out their camp had a shield over it that they turned on before everyone went to recharge, and to make matters worse, when I hit the barrier it not only sent me spiraling back into the ground, but it apparently alerted Skyquake and Turmoil... boy, I don't think I was in a good place when I heard them thudding towards me. And again, I was out like a light. Woke up and found myself chained to a bed.... wasn't happy. Or at least not how I'd've liked to have been... given the circumstances.

"Someone's awake..." It was Turmoil. He was ready and waiting.

"...." I stayed silent.

"Look, I know you're not thrilled about being here? But that means you're working for us now. As a POW we can-"

"There are rules for POWs, you think you're outside their jurisdiction?!"

"Oh... heh.... those rules? You mean the ones we intend to... 'ratify' when Lord Megatron takes command?"

"W-What? You can't be serious?!"

"Oh, we Decepticons are very serious. You see, we already have a few more of your kind here... most from different sectors that you so called Peacekeepers patrol... you'll get used to working for someone greater than yourself when you learn how valuable being alive is..." Turmoil growled as he walked out of my tent. My spark sank a little when he did. I was scared, I thought my friends would come to help and get me... but it seemed like what I thought would happen, wouldn't any time soon...

I was soon thrown into what looked like a dark, dingy camp yard that had mud, rocks and a large fence that was clearly electrified. I was ushered towards the shed in the area, where I met a few other Autobot workers who these Decepticons had captured as well. “Enjoy sharing a room with the weak.” Turmoil had a twisted sense of humor.

"Please don't hurt us…” A red one said, he seemed very uneasy and scared.

"I do not intend to… what’s your name?”

“S-Skyfall… E-East Kaon patrol, my commander was s-supposed to come and g-get me!” He said as he looked at me. I saw his fear, I acknowledged his pain.

"Who was your commander?”

“A-A bot, his name was R-Rhinox…” He said as he began to hyperventilate.

“Skyfall was it? Just calm down everything’s going to be fine…”

“You sure ‘bout that kid?” A rather burly voice said as he stepped out of the shadows. He was white, with red blue and black accenting.

“And you are?”

“Storm Jet. My team and I got captured from the West Iacon district.” He said as he nodded back to two other robots, who were currently resting. “You a flier?”

“Well uh, I have wings for a reason.”

“Good… listen kid, I got a proposition for ya.” He said as he knelt down to Skyfall and I. “...you wanna get outta here?”

 

Phase 2-Chapter 6: A Light at the End

"How do you expect us to get out?" Short recap, I got shot down by some Decepticons artillery and was dragged into a nearby camp where I've so far met guys who I detest already. But at least I found the other Autobots these Cons were holding. Storm Jet and a few other fliers were here, some guys named Skyfall, Terradive and Windrazor… he said they all came with him.

"Simple. We've got five now." Storm seemed… happy by this. "You don't know what I am do you?" He flashed two softly glowing parts on his forearms. "See these?"

"You're one of those CB guys aren't you... I've only read files on you all, didn't think that you'd find yourself stuck here… plus couldn't you just, hijack one of the guards?" I didn't buy it. At least at first.

"Problem right there. Can't form the big guy with Cons. Programming won't allow it, dunno why or how. Otherwise, we'd be gone." Storm commented.

"W-What're CB guys?" Skyfall asked

"Core Block. This guy's the head of a Combiner team…" I told him.

"S-So he's one of those big, dangerous bots that're in such short supply?!" Skyfall shouted enthusiastically. We all clamped our hands around his faceplate and shushed him.

"HEY! KEEP IT DOWN IN THERE!" One of the guards shouted angrily.

"Sorry officer… eat my dust…" he said the second part under his breath to not draw attention. "C'mon you two. 'Bout time you got outta the mud." He said as he helped us both up. We all sat down in the cots and looked at one another. "This is Terradive, he i-was, my spotter whenever we'd fly."

"Yeah and look how that turned out..." He said somewhat angrily

"Hey, don't pull that kinda scrap in here. We wanna get out of here we gotta do it right." He said as he opened up a small map. "Snagged this from one of the guards thanks to my Infiltrator guy, Windrazor here." He said as he gestured to the robot. "So, that generator we saw you fly into? First step is taking it out." He said as he zoomed in on the small tent that housed it. "Can only get in with a key from a level 3 carrier. Only ones with that are Skyquake, Turmoil, and Triggerhappy."

"Triggerhappy?" I asked.

"That white and gray guy spinning his guns when you came in? That's Triggerhappy. Basically the biggest aft hole in this camp."

"Well, what about the doctor? Frontline?" Terradive spoke up.

"Medics don't have the proper clearance even if you'd think he would." Storm explained further as he showed us the lay out. "In order to get a card we need someone stealthy like Windrazor to sneak out, grab it, and use it. There's also another constraint: time."

"Time?" I asked, speaking up again.

"Yes, time. The cards are only active when the holder is. If we try and use it when they're asleep or dead, it won't work. We need to do it… during the day." He sighed. We all flinched at the thought, what if we were caught. "I mean, I can't do it. I'm too big." Storm said

"I-I think if I g-go I'll l-lose my c-cool..." Skyfall said as he shook a little.

"I could try." I spoke up.

"You'd stick out like a sore thumb!" Terradive said

"That is true. And we can't paint his colors, we don't have any paint!" Windrazor said in agreement.

"So it's either a solo mission… or we risk detection."

We all sat and pondered. We didn't know what to do… then we heard a rumbling truck coming into the camp.

"What's that?"

"It can't be, new prisoners aren't supposed to show up for days, then again, it is rather sketchy as to how they work." We all waited, then we heard shouting and metal clashing.

"FRAGGERS!! YOU AFTHOLES SHOT ME DOWN!?!?!" This guy sounded angry. Like, completely ready to blow angry. We peeked out of the tent and gasped.

"It's the cyclops..." The others seemed to know this new prisoner, but I didn't.

"Welcome to-" Turmoil was jumped by this new bot, he really did have a temper.

"LET ME THE FRAG GO YOU AFT!" He barked, hitting the large black bot over and over with his claws. Skyquake apparently pried him off and threw him to the ground. "You'll pay, I SWEAR!"

"That will come later than sooner, Autobot..." He growled. Turmoil was leaking Energon from one of his optics as he watched the guards drag him… straight towards our tent. We all scrambled, and Skyfall and I got on the ground where we were at first. The bot screamed and slid to a halt, face first in the dirt. We all looked in awe, this new robot, who was he? Could we trust him?

"Ugh… stupid, slag heads…" he growled as he stood up, albeit a little wobbly. We all stared at him. He was light blue with a single yellow optic, with claws and, what seemed like strange, spindly legs. "Well? Aren't you all gonna get down and give me a bunk?!" He shouted.

"New guy?... this, is Whirl..."

 

Phase 2-Chapter 7: Someone Among Us

"So, you're Thundercracker?" It was bright and early in the day, we were just waking up. But Whirl hadn't slept apparently. "You don't seem tough." He was standing over me.

"It's not my job to look intimidating for your amusement." I told him sternly. "I just want to get out with you all."

"Whirl leave 'im alone." Storm Jet ordered as he woke up himself and pointed at Whirl.

"Ooohhhh~! I'm so scaaared~, whatcha gonna do, shoot my good eye out? OH WAIT" Whirl was, in all of our opinions, an afthole. It had been a good couple of days since he arrived and we were already planning our little escape plan.

"Knock it off..." Windrazor growled as he rolled over.

"Make me~" Whirl taunted as he clinked his claws together. "Come'n get me!"

"Why I oughta!"

"Hey! Knock it off both of you!" Storm shouted as he got between the two.

"S-So how'd you sleep?" Skyfall asked me as he sat up and crossed his legs. "I h-had a dream that a nice f-femme got me out of here with guns and all..." He sighed

"Quite the imagination." I commented as I rolled my optics and hair watched the display. We had already planned how to take out the shield generator and how to get past Turmoil and Skyquake, but we had to work Whirl into the plan as well.

A few hours passed and we began discussing the plan again. "Everyone has their jobs. Thundercracker, you're the one with Windrazor on deactivating the shield generator. Whirl and Terradive, you two're in charge of attacking and distraction. As for you Skyfall, you're with me on defending home back while I charge my CS."

"Y-Yes sir." Skyfall said as he stood up and nodded.

"We act tonight with the generator. Make sure you two're ready." Storm said as we all prepared. We stuck our heads out of the tent, more time had passed. We gasped and pulled our heads back in. "What's the matter?!"

"Look!" Windrazor said softly. Storm stuck his head out and came back in. "See?"

"Slag!!" He kicked the cot and knocked it over.

"W-What's wrong?" Skyfall asked. Outside we all saw the same thing: the tent with the generator had almost triple the guard than we planned, and Triggerhappy sat on the sides waiting for someone.

"Did someone tip them off?!" Terradive asked angrily

"I don't know!" Storm answered.

"Someone had to have told them... Otherwise they wouldn't have uped the guard count." Storm said.

"I don't begin to have an assumption..." We all agreed on the same thing, maybe they had a camera and noticed? And we're just waiting for us to jump into a trap? Or maybe someone else was in league with them...

 

Phase 2-Chapter 8: Weeding

"How do you expect us to find and plug that leak?" I whispered to Storm Jet as we sat on our cots, trying to think up a new plan.

"Well we could ask everyone but knowing what happens they'll ALL try to say no." He growled.

"But how can we make sure that they aren't lying?" I asked. It had been a few days since the new generator guard staff tripled, so we had to make sure that we'd discuss all about how someone or someTHING was giving off our advantage. "...I have an idea."

"Go on?"

"...what if, we all inflict ourselves or each other with the same injury, to the detail."

"What good will that serve?!" Storm sounded angered.

"Just listen! I've noticed that Frontline, med bot? He's a data relayer, that's why he acts so nicely at first, as soon as you spill something he'll use it and catalog it. So, if we all go with the same injury and the same explanation, we'll all be out in the same amount of time. But whoever's the mole will take longer because they have to tell him the data." I suggested. Storm pondered the idea and when I thought it over, it did seem somewhat bizarre. Would Frontline remember the explanations? And the injuries?

"Hm... that sounds so stupid it just might work..." I couldn't believe it. "But, the injury? Let's say a dislocated knee joint, from what Terradive's told me i-"

"Standard procedure for'a dislocated knee joint is about 30-40 minutes, trust me, I'm an ex paramed." He pointed to himself.

"Ok. I know it'll hurt but it has to be exact in all of our cases."

"Well I can't!" Whirl spoke up. "I have noodle legs! You do that you're taking my leg off rather than dislocating it!" He protested.

"Ok, maybe not Whirl, but the rest of us can. Are we all in agreement?" Storm asked. We all nodded, and in the morning when we were all working, we put our plan into effect. We all used some of the rocks in the area to dislocate our knee joints. MOST of us tried not to groan, Skyfall seemed to have a hard time since he was a bit shyer than us, especially when it came to violence. We went to the Warden, AKA Turmoil, and told him about our situations individually, not in a group, otherwise it would've compromised the plan. Terradive was first, he came back in about 32 minutes all fixed up. Windrazor was next, he came back in 33 minutes, with at least 4 hours between the two. So far, they were in the clear. I was next, with Skyfall and Storm Jet after me. I trudged to the tent and entered, looking at Frontline, who was toying with a dismantled arm.

"Oh, it's you." He growled. "The 'save me' guy." He growled.

"Not here to cause trouble, my knee joint's out." I explained as I showed him my obviously dislocated let.

"Uhhuh... any particular reason?"

"Simple, I was working with the other prisoners in the rock field and when I swung my tool down, it missed and hit my knee, knocking it out of place." I explained.

"..... hold tight while I go and prep my tools. All you Autobots seem to hit yourselves, no wonder we capture and kill you all so easily." He chuckled as he stepped out of the tent. I waited and checked my clock, I was 6 minutes in. The standard procedure only took 33 minutes. "There, you're free to go." He told me. I thanked him and he simply waved me away. I returned to my tent and sat down.

"33 minutes." I explained.

"You're good then. Sky, when the next 5 hours pass, you're up." Storm said.

"O-Okay sir." He said as he looked away. I stared at him and he smiled a little. "I-Is it, painful?"

"Only a little, just to set it back in place." I told him. He smiled again and nodded. The next 5 hours passed and Sky went out of the tent, but I noticed some kind of, glimmer in his optics. He exited and I couldn't help but watch him walk to the tent.

"You think, he's gonna be ok?" I asked Storm.

"Knowing him? He'll be fine." Storm said reassuringly as he began to sort our times. More time than we expected passed. "What could be taking so long..."

"...no...." I had a bad feeling... he had been in the tent with the doctor for almost 50 minutes now. "I don't believe it. I won't."

"Data relays like that take an average o-of five to ten extra minutes this-no, not Skyfall of all bots!" Terradive seemed completely astounded by the idea of Skyfall being the one to rat us out.

"It can't be..." We all seemed so sure it was him now... "I have to charge..." Storm said as he fixed his leg. When Skyfall came back we all stayed silent.

"I-Is something wrong?"

None of us said anything. He sighed and began to chuckle. Storm Jet was charging behind the tent in case Sky tried anything. "R-Real funny guys."

"The only thing that's funny is how you've been ratting us out." Whirl poked him on the chest.

"I-I haven't been ratting you all out at all!" Sky seemed to back towards the entrance of the tent. "L-Let me explain..." He clutched it and turned around to see Skyquake....

"So... you all've been planning something?" He smirked as he looked us all over. "Where's your..." We heard grunting and saw Storm Jet taking out all the guards around the generator like a monster on full tilt. "WHAT?!"

"GO STORM!" Terradive shouted as he ran towards him with Windrazor to help.

"GET BACK HERE!" Turmoil shot at them, but Whirl grabbed him by the cannon and swung around him. "WHAT?!"

"That seems to be a favorite WORD WITH YOU CONS!" He laughed as he gouged out one of his optics. Turmoil shouted in pain and Triggerhappy heard, jumping to the scene. He transformed, only to get rammed out of the air by myself as I had made my way out. I couldn't get far, but he chased me. As soon as I got to the barrier field I transformed and let him run smack dab into it.

"GAAAAAAAH!!!" He roared as he was electrocuted like a bug to a zapper. I laughed and flew back, diving into Skyquake with all the speed I could gather. He went tumbling back and I transformed to hear a gun click.

"I'VE GOT THE LOCK-" Storm was about to deactivate the lock, until he saw Skyfall with a pistol to my head.

"You all s-should've just, let me help you!" Skyfall stuttered.

"F-Frontline, help me...." Triggerhappy asked as he tried to crawl towards the medic tent. When he opened, he saw Frontline... dead, with syringes and anything else sharp in his chest and face. "FRONTLINE'S DEAD!!" He roared. He looked at Skyfall and drew his pistol, firing at Skyfall. He got hit in the side and gasped as he fell. I grabbed the pistol and fired right back at Triggerhappy, who's only good arm exploded. He let out a blood curdling screech as he went limp from the pain. I ran to the others, but noticed that the other guards were beginning to get up, Skyquake and Turmoil were regaining their strength. Just then, we saw the ports on Storm's arms and legs light up.

"Boss?"

"Heh... alright men..." His optics lit up a bright yellow.

"IT'S TIME TO COMBINE!"

 

Phase 2-Chapter 9: New Line of Sight

So, first time combining with another Transformer. I really thought that doing this was only meant for the flexible type. All I saw was my alt mode engage and fly at Storm Jet, and then just. Black. I finally opened my optics and, didn't see much. Just a large black space...

"YOOHOOO~!" I turned around in the dark abyss and saw a single yellow optic. "Hey, fraghead. Hiya!" It was Whirl. I thought this was either fake, or my worst nightmare.

"Whirl? Where are we?"

"You two, get over 'ere!" We both heard Storm shout. I couldn't feel the ground under my feet but I heard Whirl turn on his rotors, and see his optic move. I blinked and pulsed my thrusters in the direction of the voice. We both ended up at a strange door labeled "ON AIR". We shrugged and walked in to see a very strange set up. Whirl and I simply looked around at the cobwebbed interior of this place. There was a chair in the middle, with seats and control panels all around it. I looked at Whirl and then at Storm, who just walked in carrying a large bundle of cobwebs in his hands. "Eeehhh sorry guys, this place hasn't been used in a while."

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Take a look for yourself." Storm pointed to what looked like a large HUD or outward display. We didn't see much, that is until Terradive aimed the "camera" down, which looked down at Skyquake and Turmoil. "Welcome to Superion Maximus." Storm chuckled as Windrazor chuckled and slid into a chair, putting a headset on.

"You two've caused us Autobots-"

"Enough trouble! I think it's high time we put you down for good..." A loud, booming voice said. We saw Skyquake try and run, but Terradive shot him in the back with what looked like a light blue gun.

"Heheheh, target practice, alright." He chuckled as he aimed the gun at Skyquake, who kept trying to crawl away. "Oi Boss he's tryin' to run!" He laughed.

"What IS THIS?!" I barked

"You're inside a combiner's head, think of this as the control bridge of a ship. I'm the captain, since I'm the core block. Terradive's the camera man as you could say, he moves the head around. Windrazor's the arms and weapons-"

"Best damn shot on this team!" He said as Skyquake let out a shout and began to explode. "See?"

"And, what do we do? Twiddle our claws till you all're done havin' fun?" Whirl growled.

"No, you both are the legs, therefore you're in charge of movement down there. We've got our guys together, now that we have power we can get out of here. Thunders, you're good with thrusters, you're our jets. Whirl? You're the legs. Think you can handle that?" Storm asked

"I can do that."

"So can I~" We both ran to our stations and began to learn the controls.

"W-Wait..." A faint voice said. Terradive aimed the head and we focused on Skyfall, who was leaking Energon. "Y-You all have to s-see why, I bet-trayed you..." He gasped.

"I think, we should help him." I stated.

"He betrayed us and sold us out."

"But he killed Frontline!"

"You mean Flatline?" Terradive asked, raising an optical ridge. We all looked at one another and came to an agreement. "Ok Skyfall..." Superion knelt down, but lifted a leg and stomped on the robot in one quick motion. "WHAT THE SLAG?!"

"Oops, my bad." Whirl had grabbed the leg controls and crushed Skyfall. Storm rushed him and obviously tossed him to the side. "What?! He betrayed us like you said! Just cause he killed the doc doesn't mean we should just spare him!"

"He could've undergone trial!" Storm barked

"He wouldn't have survived..." Whirl growled as he dusted himself off.

"Thunder, think you can get us out?" Storm asked. I looked at the two slider controls and nodded.

"Can do..." I began to force them up, we noticed the large combiner began to take off from the ground and started to fly towards the coordinates I punched in, home base. Within hours we arrived.

"No way...." We heard multiple voices say as they saw us landing.

"Is that Thundercracker?" I thought I heard Dion ask as he examined our leg, my leg to be precise. "I think it is!" We all began to separate and in minutes were all in our individual modes. Magnum walked through the small crowd with Red Alert until they saw me.

"Thundercracker?" He asked. I walked to him and stared him in the optics, saluting to him in my best posture.

"AIR COMMANDER THUNDERCRACKER AT YOUR SERVICE SIR!" I shouted.

"BROTHER!!" I heard my twins laugh and shout as they ran towards me and tackled me to the ground.

"Star! Sky!" I laughed as I hugged them back.

"Sir, my name is-"

"Storm Jet. You're leader of the Aerialbots correct? West Iacon district?" Magnum asked

"U-Uh, yes sir. These two are-"

"Terradive and Windrazor. Your powers are known throughout the Autobots, and we've only seen this Superion character a few times on the news. You saved my soldier."

"And uh, I'm here too." Whirl said as he poked his head out from behind Storm Jet.

"Oh... Whirl..." Magnum knew him, apparently. ".... we can have you transported back to your platoon as soon as possible..."

"Thanks red'n blue." Whirl snickered as he walked past. He kicked my helmet and giggled as he kept walking. "CATCHA ON THE FLIP SIDE THUNDIE!" He laughed.

"I can also have you all transported to your district as well." Magnum offered. "It's the least I can do for having you return my officer safe and sound."

"The least I can do is patch you all up so you can go home spick and span." Red Alert smiled as she took Storm's arm.

"W-Well um, thank you ma'am." He and the others followed. I went with my brothers and went to the tent, my cot was still where I left it.

"S-So, what happened!" Skywarp asked me

"Did they torture you?!" Starscream asked as well.

"Hold on hold on... let me tell you in detail..."

 

Now that Spring Break for me has concluded I will begin to work on more chapters of A New Perspective to get back into the groove of things.