So wondering what y’all’s opinions are on this matter? Starscream is aerial commander of the Deceptions so he would be at the top... But how do u all think the seekers are organized after Starscream? I’d lime to think Skywarpand Thundercracker come second to Starscream in skill and rank as his lieutenants of sorts which is why they were part of the original Nemesis crew. Then rainmakers who are probably more powerful than the coneheads follow IMO since they can produce Acid rain. Then coneheads followed by all the other seekers Plus Sunstorm is this random super powered seeker thats more powerful than all of them who does his own thing? Do u all feel different? Would the coneheads actually be better than Skywarp and Thundercracker?
Skywarp is only loyal to Megatron. Thundercracker? Kinda like the Mirage of the 'cons.(Skyfire being an exception). The rest of the Seekers are disposable shock troops (like infantry) Soundwave and the other combiners teams are like SpecOps.
I think it's very much a case of Starscream on top and the rest are all equal. First because I have a hard time seeing Starscream accepting anyone as his XO (considering his own ambitions to rise from high ranking to leader). Secondly...well, the vast majority of them are eithers idiots or grunts, and the rare seeker who's smart or capable, has no amibition or would be ill suited for a position of command. With Skywarp being a dumb bully and Thundercracker unsure of the Decepticon cause, they don't strike me as suitable lieutenants. More as handy to have around air soldiers. The Coneheads are dumb thugs; the Welcoming Seekers are smarter, but none are suitable for command, and none of the rainmakers are suitable for command or willing to. I think at best you'd have one of each group who is sort of in the lead of his own team, but outside of Starscream there's no one who can command more than one squad.
My own head canon: 1. Aerospace Commander: Starscream 2. Seeker Lieutenants: Thundercracker and Skywarp 3. Coneheads: Dirge, Thrust, Ramjet 4. Rainmakers: Acid Storm, Ion Storm, Nova Storm 5. Welcoming Committee: Bitstream, Sunstorm, Nacelle, Hotlink 6. Troop Builder/Cannon Fodder: Wheezing Arrow, Sandstorm and other Unnamed Seekers Special Officers: Red Wing Slipstream
It would be interesting to see a G1 story set on Cybertron where Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp are trapped on Earth. With a Seeker (and overall Decepticon) leadership vacuum on Cybertron, Sunstorm (and the remaining Seekers) attempts a coup against Shockwave (and Megatron) to set himself up as a God-Emperor of Cybertron. The Coneheads, however, secretly work with Shockwave to complete the Space Bridge to warn Megatron of the situation.
With there being so many named Seekers now, I've begun to think that it would be fun if one of them plotted to remove Starscream. You'd then see who would side with Scream, who would stay on the sidelines and who would back the upstart. Semi-similar to your idea, which I think is also interesting. The Dreamwave comics were shaping up Sunstorm as being some clone/religious fanatic/ancient/super powered Seeker. The comics had pretty bad writing but that concept always interested me and after that, I always considered Sunstorm as some sort of upper tier Seeker that was independent, very powerful and mysterious. Someone else on here wrote up some head canon about Red Wing that also elevated his status to being more then just a soldier and turned him into a powerful prototype that all other Seekers were based off. Interesting stuff. At this point I'm starting to feel that Thundercracker and Skywarp are high up only because they were on the ground floor when the Decepticon army was getting assembled and not because of any talent or skill. Lastly, I have a piece of fiction in my head were Starscream is being held in Autobot custody for fake war crimes and at some point he just decides to walk out. They try to stop him and he singlehandedly takes down a squad of Autobots by himself-- proving why he's the Aerospace Commander.
Skywarp is supposed to be a mischievous teleporter - think evil Nightcrawler. That's really not commander material. Thundercracker is an air snob who likes to shoot at ground based things for no reason other than they can't fly. And if you apply the IDW characteristics, he's also only half-heartedly doing his job. Again, not exactly leadership material. Sunstorm, to me, seems like the most likely to set himself up as some sort of leader, even if it's all a self-induced hallucination.
I think the OP had it pretty much right. Starscream is the Air Commander of the Decepticons. Thundercracker and Skywarp are his direct reports and manage all the Seeker sub-teams: Rainmakers, Coneheads, so on.
My Headcanon for this (at least pre-war). Winglord - highest rank - usually has Air Commanders as their wingmen Second Wing - Second in Command/XO - Not always filled Air Commander - Commands the legions. - There is seniority within this rank by 'time in grade'. - All ACs form a sort of 'Air Command Council' - Each AC have their own squad of trusted seekers, whom serve mostly as bodyguards, but can take command if the AC is unable. Wing Leader - in charge of 3 - 4 seekers This got all thrown into disarray after Vos was bombed (killing off most of the leadership in the process, leaving Starscream as the highest ranked AC)
Ramjet would be the best candidate to try and make a move over the Seeker leadership. He being a retool of Starscream(he also uses the same decals of 'screamer, that being intended or coincidental is best left to the experts) Now that the OP mentioned it, back in the Marvel/UK days, iirc, Furman intended the Coneheads to be a special type of Seeker that the Wreckers needed to neutralize. And in Budiansky's " Aerialbots over America", Megatron acknowledge that as much, they each showed their special abilities. Dirge could like pull out the inherent "phobias" of his foes (with Silverbolt being afraid of heights), Ramjet likes to "ram" things and Thrust, well, I forget. Maybe he can manipulate aircurrents and create mini air funnels/tornadoes? So, definitely SpecOps.
I would assume the welcoming comitee would be spec ops, with Hotlink being an incendiary specialist, Bitstream computer systems, Sunstorm as Long range tactics, and Nacelle as demolitions.
In the 1986 movie he seems to be strongly in support of Starscream at the coronation. Therefore, if Starscream had died during series 2 think Ramjet may have led the squadron.
